Nassau’s health department is planning to host COVID-19 vaccine days next week aimed at children ages 12 and older, an effort to boost immunity among that population in time for the start of the new school year, County Executive Laura Curran said Thursday.
It’ll be held from July 27 to July 31, she said.
Curran said 81% of adults 18 and older and 97% of those 65 and older in the county had received at least one dose of the vaccine.
“In our African American community, in our Hispanic community and in our youth we are not quite where we want to be,” Curran said during a press event at Kennedy Park in the Village of Hempstead where the special youth vaccine days will occur in partnership with Northwell Health and the village.
“We are not at that 80 percent. So we are doing everything we can to work with health care professionals in all communities to talk to residents about the benefits of vaccine, especially now as we see the delta variant emerging.”
According to Curran spokeswoman Vicki DiStefano, 43.8% of Nassau residents ages 12 to 15 are vaccinated, compared to a statewide average of 39%; 66.9% of those ages 16 to 25 are vaccinated; statewide it’s 55.4%.
Asians in Nassau are 89% vaccinated, matching the state’s average for the demographic. Whites in Nassau are 62.3% vaccinated; the state average is 55.4%. Blacks are 44.5% vaccinated; the state average is 39.9%. Hispanics/Latinos are 66.5% vaccinated, compared to 61.5% statewide.
Also Thursday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office released figures showing that both Long Island’s counties had a second consecutive day with more than 100 new COVID-19 cases — Nassau with 152 and Suffolk, 126. And for second day in a row, one of two deaths Wednesday in the state was a Nassau resident.
On Long Island, there were 95 hospitalizations, up from 54 a week ago.
Meanwhile, Curran said, there has been an uptick in cases in Nassau County.
“Schools are going to open in September,” Curran said. “We really want our young people to have as normal a school experience as possible and getting young people vaccinated — 12 and over — is incredibly important.”
Curran said her three children, who are all older than 12, are vaccinated.
“Children need to be in school full time,” Curran said. “It’s a miracle that human ingenuity has come so far that within a year we had a very effective and safe vaccine. That is amazing. I don’t think we should take that for granted.”
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