Medical experts on Monday cautioned Long Islanders to keep up their guard against COVID-19 this Thanksgiving and to take added safety steps around family members who are unvaccinated.
Their warnings came as COVID-19 indicators on Long Island and throughout New York State are rising rapidly. On the positive side, however, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that 90% of adult New Yorkers have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“While that is an incredible achievement, it’s crucial we continue to take precautions to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe from this deadly virus as we head into the holiday season,” Hochul said in a statement.
Medical experts agreed Monday that Long Islanders and all New Yorkers need to remain vigilant against the virus, albeit with some tools — chiefly the vaccine — to help contain it.
“Maintaining our caution just as we did last year is what we need to do for the holidays,” said Dr. Nancy Kwon, vice chair of emergency medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park. “Certainly being vaccinated is one of the key things that can help protect us all. So if you are not vaccinated, you should get vaccinated.”
Currently the region and state are in the midst of a rise in rates that experts say could signal the start of a holiday season surge.
The seven-day average for positivity in testing for the virus surpassed 4% on Long Island on Saturday, the first time since mid-September it hit that mark. Less than two weeks ago, on Nov. 11, it was under 3%. It was 4.18% in test results reported on Sunday.
Kwon said the safest approach for Thanksgiving is to gather with other vaccinated people in small groups. While it can be tricky to inquire whether potential guests are vaccinated, she said it is a good idea.
“If it is family and friends and people feel comfortable asking, I would ask,” she said. “And if they are not vaccinated, I would actually recommend trying to maintain distance or not gathering or wearing masks.”
While it may be hard to ask about vaccination status, Kwon said, “sometimes that is what we need to do for our safety.”
Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, said each family has to judge its situation and decide what’s best.
“Each family has to make their own decision,” she said. “We can’t tell families absolutely yes and absolutely no.”
If a family member, for instance, has serious underlying health conditions, it is clearly not a good idea to invite unvaccinated people to their home or to have a large gathering, she said.
“For a family whose child is on chemotherapy, that risk is extreme,” she said. “The answer will be for someone who is not vaccinated, please don’t come.”
But if everyone is vaccinated, no one has serious medical issues, and the gathering is not large, it is probably OK — though taking precautions such as keeping seats distanced and windows open if possible are good ideas, Nachman said.
“We really want families to start reconnecting and getting together, but do it with a good degree of caution,” she said. “Do as best a job as you can, and good is not the opposite of perfect.”
Kwon said that even among groups where everyone is vaccinated, large gatherings are not a good idea.
“There is some protection with vaccination, but the more people together in a smaller space, we know that there is a higher likelihood of transmission,” she said.
And even vaccinated people can suffer a “breakthrough case” of infection, becoming sick with COVID-19 despite being inoculated, she said.
Meanwhile, in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday highlighted the growing compliance with his vaccination mandate for municipal workers, saying the rate continues to rise.
For example, among FDNY firefighters, once a group with one of the city’s lowest rates, 89% have gotten a first dose, de Blasio said Monday morning. The rate was 58% on Oct. 19, just before the mandate went into effect.
At the time, the head of the firefighters’ labor union said he didn’t expect the rate to go up in any meaningful way. A municipal worker who refuses to get vaccinated, and isn’t granted a medical or religious exemption, is put on unpaid furlough.
Also in New York City, as of Monday morning, 811,460 New Yorkers had gotten a booster shot, de Blasio said at his daily news conference.
“That number’s gonna grow a lot in the coming days. Go out, get your booster shot now,” de Blasio said.
There is not currently a city mandate for boosters.
With Matthew Chayes
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