COVID Hospitalizations Plunge 51% For Older New Yorkers: Chokshi

NEW YORK, NY — New York City is seeing promising results of its vaccine roll-out among older New Yorkers, who were among the first to receive the life-saving shot, Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said.

The city's doctor revealed Wednesday that the rate of coronavirus hospitalizations for those over the age of 65 have fallen 51 percent since mid-January, around the time the entire age group became eligible for the shot.

"Here in New York City we are starting to see [vaccines] have the real world benefit that has been observed in Israel, the United Kingdom and elsewhere," Chokshi said.

The hospitalization rate for those under 65, who were later in the vaccine roll-out, has dropped by only about 29 percent, Chokshi said.

More than 61 percent of New Yorkers over 65 have now received at least their first dose, according to the health commissioner.

The progress comes as the city's vaccine effort takes a major blow with the precautionary pause of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson shot, which had been instrumental specifically in its vaccination program for homebound seniors. The vaccine program for homebound seniors has been put on hold until at least Sunday.

The city is working on giving those scheduled to receive the Johnson & Johnson shot one of the other vaccines, including finding transportation for seniors who were slated to get it at home, Chokshi said.

"We should not mistake progress for victory — this virus has shown us time and again just how deadly it can be," he said. "We have to keep that in the front of our minds even as we follow the science on the safety of vaccines."

Chokshi also warned that New Yorkers must not let up on safety measures as progress is seen in the vaccine distribution.

The city's vaccine effort is particularly in a race against more contagious coronavirus variants, which now account for three quarters of cases in New York City, according to Chokshi.

"These variants do make our job harder — it's part of the reason that we haven’t seen cases plunging as much as we would like," he said.

As of Wednesday, the city's seven-day average positivity rate stood at 5.3 percent, there were 2,637 new coronavirus cases reported and 174 new hospitalizations.

"We’re winning the race right now, but we have to keep going," Mayor Bill de Blasio added. "We have to keep our guard up."