UES Vaccination Rates Stay High, But COVID Rates Hold Steady

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Coronavirus rates have not yet plummeted on the Upper East Side, even as the neighborhood's residents get vaccinated at some of the city's highest rates, according to city data.

More than half of Upper East Siders have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, at rates ranging from 53 percent of adults in the 10028 ZIP code to 65 percent in 10075.

That figure is the highest in Manhattan, according to the city's data, trailing only Breezy Point in Queens, where 75 percent have gotten a shot.

Still, the percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive has not declined steeply in the neighborhood despite the vaccine rollout.

While all five Upper East Side ZIP codes have lower positivity rates than they did during the post-holiday surge in January, they saw little change between February and late March, testing data shows.

Positivity rates in all five ZIP codes were between 2.17 and 3.43 percent for the week that ended on March 27. Each of those ZIP codes had already recorded lower rates earlier this winter before ticking back up again more recently.

Those trends are in keeping with what experts have dubbed a "high plateau" in New York City — consistently high virus rates, even as vaccinations ramp up and other parts of the country see declines.

The data suggests that the city's second wave "never really ended," the New York Times reported last week. More contagious variants which now make up a majority of the city's cases are partly to blame.

By mid-May, once vaccinations have become more widespread, virus cases may finally decline, experts have said.

Latest Upper East Side vaccine data

• 10021 — Lenox Hill/Upper East Side: 57 percent first dose received, 42 percent fully vaccinated
• 10028 — Yorkville/Upper East Side: 53 percent first dose received, 37 percent fully vaccinated
• 10065 — Lenox Hill/Upper East Side: 59 percent first dose received, 42 percent fully vaccinated
• 10075 — Lenox Hill/Upper East Side: 65 percent first dose received, 46 percent fully vaccinated
• 10128 — Yorkville/Upper East Side: 55 percent first dose received, 38 percent fully vaccinated