Thread by @NYCHealthCommr

NEW: NYC’s vaccination campaign prevented a quarter-million COVID cases and saved over 8,000 lives. @nycHealthy data show that between January and June, 98.9% of cases, 98.4% of hospitalizations, and 98.9% of deaths from #COVID19 were in people who were NOT fully vaccinated. 🧵

https://twitter.com/nycHealthy/status/1415314733322878976

My message to everyone today—if you have been waiting, if you have been on the fence—is to please sign up to get vaccinated as soon as possible. As the City’s doctor, what keeps me up at night is thinking about the New Yorkers who are still unvaccinated.

I think about how much suffering COVID-19 caused in our city over the past year and a half. I think about the grief, the trauma, the empty chairs at the dinner table. The good news is: SO MUCH of the suffering is now avoidable because of vaccines. We have evidence to prove it.

Now is a particularly dangerous time to be unvaccinated, with the more contagious Delta variant spreading in our city. But the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines offer protection against it and all of the strains of the virus currently circulating in NYC, including Delta.

Our work to vaccinate New Yorkers continues, and our strategy is shifting to extend the benefit of vaccination even further into neighborhoods and communities. I think about this the same way I do when I’m speaking to one of my patients about vaccination.

It takes one-on-one conversations, as with the over 280,000 New Yorkers reached by our door-to-door canvassers—and thousands MORE phone calls from nurses now underway. It means providing science-based information, like the millions of pieces of literature we’ve distributed.

We’ll focus efforts on the areas of the city with the lowest vaccination rates. We’ll meet people through our mobile vaccination vans and pop-ups—where we’ve administered over 100,000 doses—and our in-home vaccination service, which has fully vaccinated 17,250 New Yorkers.

We’ll double down on our investment in community-based organizations. We have provided over $50M to community and faith-based organizations throughout the response to support with education, outreach and connection to services.

And we will make additional investments in the coming months, including expanding our Referral Bonus program offering $100 for each New Yorker vaccinated:
forms.cityofnewyork.us/f/VaccineRefer…

We have been working with trusted health care providers and leaders to promote the vaccine at pharmacies, hospitals and community clinics. Our new “Use Every Opportunity” campaign helps ensure that vaccination is offered at each clinical encounter.

Our staff will be visiting primary care and women’s health practices across the 76 ZIP codes with the lowest vaccination rates this summer to support them in offering the vaccine.

We will also have a particular focus on youth and parents through our engagement with pediatric providers, particularly around back-to-school physicals.

We have come so far, but the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over in New York City. Our way out of this is with vaccination. It is our most powerful tool—and with it, we can continue to save lives.