Vaccinating Staff Against COVID-19: How LI, HV Hospitals Compare

NEW YORK — New York may have reached herd immunity now that more than 70 percent of the population has had at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, but despite being at the head of the queue since December, many of the state's hospital workers remain unvaccinated.

At 55 just percent of workers vaccinated at its one hospital, Putnam County has the lowest coronavirus vaccination rate for hospital employees in New York, according to the state's vaccine tracker. Three counties: Putnam, Schuyler and Lewis counties had hospital-staff vaccination rates lower than 60 percent.

Statewide, the vaccination rate for hospital workers was 73 percent as of June 16, the most recent data available from the state Health Department.

On Long Island, hospital workers have been vaccinated against COVID-19 at average or above-average levels, with Suffolk County lagging behind Nassau.

However, in the Hudson Valley, the range was wide from county to county. While Putnam was lowest by far, Dutchess was also low with just under two out of three hospital workers vaccinated.

Only Westchester and Ulster met or exceeded the state average for hospital worker vaccinations.

Marcela Rojas, spokesperson for Nuvance Health/Putnam Hospital, responded to Patch with a statement:

Putnam Hospital is committed to taking all necessary steps to educate employees about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. We continue to encourage our teams to get vaccinated to reduce the spread of infection and protect themselves, patients, peers and the communities we serve.

The vaccination rate among Putnam hospital workers was much lower than among the Putnam population in general. As of Wednesday, 72.5 percent of Putnam residents aged 18 and older had received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.

As of Wednesday, 71.2 percent of New York state's residents aged 18 and older had received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.

The highest vaccination rate among hospital workers was 90 percent in Albany, Essex and Rensselaer counties.