UWS Schools Have 2nd-Highest Vaccination Rate In New York City

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Upper West Side makes up almost the entirety of the school district with the second-highest vaccination rate in New York City, according to new data released by the Department of Education on Friday.

Manhattan's School District 3, which goes from West 59th Street to around West 122nd Street in Morningside Heights, has a student vaccination rate of 77 percent, according to the data.

The figure is the second-highest in New York City, trailing only the 80 percent vaccination rate in Manhattan's District 2, which spans most of Lower Manhattan and the Upper East Side.

While the Upper West Side and Manhattan vaccination numbers for students are relatively high, nearly 250 of the city's schools have fewer than a third of its students receiving at least one dose of the vaccine.

The data did not include charter schools.

The average Upper West Side student vaccination rate might be 77 percent, but the local school's vaccination rates still range from 92 percent to 33 percent.

In other parts of the city, such as Brooklyn's School District 23, the vaccination rate of students is just at 38 percent for one dose.

“In the coming months, we are working with our partner health care agencies on an outreach campaign to encourage vaccination in the communities with the lowest rates,” education department spokesperson Nathaniel Styer said in a statement. to Chalkbeat.

Officials announced on Friday that New York City public school students can go mask-free outdoors starting next week.

The rule's end Feb. 28 represents a major step toward lifting coronavirus restrictions that have defined public school students' lives for nearly two years.

Read More: NYC Schools Will End Outdoor Mask Mandate

The WestSideRag was the first to report specifically on the Upper West Side's school vaccination rate.