NY very close to easing all Covid restrictions with vaccination rate at 69.9%
In Orleans, vaccination rate for 18 and over is 51.9 percent
Gov. Andrew Cuomo today said the state is very close to lifting all Covid-19 restriction as the vaccination rate for those 18 and older is very close to 70 percent.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has the state rate at 69.9 percent with 20,099,155 doses administered in NY. The state is at 50.0 percent of all residents who have completed the vaccine series.
Orleans County is below the state vaccination rate. Orleans in early April was last in the state with the vaccination rate among 62 counties, but has passed several counties since then.
Orleans currently has 51.9 percent of those 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose, and 43.5 percent of the total population of 40,612 with at least one dose. That is according to the state’s Vaccine Tracker (click here).
The 51.9 percent rate for those 18 and older is higher than the following counties:
- Allegany, 43.4 percent
- Tioga, 49.1 percent
- Cattaraugus, 50.6 percent
- Fulton, 50.7 percent
- Lewis, 50.7 percent
- Steuben, 51.2 percent
- Seneca, 51.6 percent
With the state set to pass the 70 percent vaccination rate, Cuomo announced restrictions will soon be lifted. He was in Syracuse today at the State Fairgrounds and announced that the fair in August will reopen to 100 percent capacity. He also announced the state will be spending $40 million in tourism ad campaign to bring more people to visit the state.
The state’s percent of positive Covid tests has plunged from about 8 percent in January to the current 0.4 percent.
“The more people get vaccinated, the lower the positivity rate,” Cuomo said. “The more the vaccine rate goes up, the lower the positivity rate. That’s why we’ve been working so hard on vaccinations.”
The governor praised New Yorkers for getting the vaccine and allowing the state to reopen ahead of what was initially considered a very optimistic target of July 4.
“We beat all those predictions, but it doesn’t mean when we hit 70 percent it’s over,” Cuomo said. “It means it’s working. It means we’re doing well, but it also means keep going. It’s not the finish line at 70, but we’re coming around the last turn on the track and we have to focus and we have to know that we’re doing well.”
