As New York State’s 62 counties vaccinate their residents,Tompkins County is outperforming most of them, with the second highest vaccination rates in the state.
According to New York State’s COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker, as of Monday, over 65,000 people are fully vaccinated in Tompkins County — about 64 percent of the county population.
This percentage exceeds those of surrounding counties. In Cayuga County, approximately 46.5 percent of its population has completed the recommended vaccine series.
Of the other bordering counties, Tioga County has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the region. With a population of 48,560, only 39.2 percent is fully vaccinated. Similarly, Seneca and Chemung counties have lower vaccination rates, with just over 41 percent of their populations fully vaccinated.
Tompkins County joins 10 other state counties, including Nassau, Hamilton, New York, and Westchester, which have vaccinated over three-fourths of adults. Hamilton currently has the highest vaccination rate, with 66.5 percent of its population fully vaccinated. Tompkins was even listed by Fast Company Magazine in May as having the fifth-highest vaccination rate of any metro area in the country based on data from May 24.
“This is a great milestone for our State and County,” Frank Kruppa, Tompkins County public health director, said in a June 16 statement. “I am proud of the hard work our County has done to curb the spread of this virus and hold a leading vaccination rate for the country.”
In April, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that all individuals 16 and older would be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Since then, 53.7 percent of New Yorkers 18 and older are fully vaccinated, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — marking a slight increase from the 50 percent of New Yorkers that were vaccinated in May.
These vaccination rates follow President Joe Biden’s May 4 announcement of his goal to have 70 percent of Americans vaccinated by July 4. However, on June 22, the White House announced that it will not meet this goal. Currently, New York State makes up nearly 7 percent of the country’s 153.8 million fully vaccinated individuals, with more than 10.4 million New Yorkers having received their final dose as of this morning.
Tompkins County Health Department continues to inform residents of various walk-in vaccine clinics and pop-up sites. Residents can find information regarding these pop-up clinics on Tompkins County’s website and Twitter, which consistently urges them to get vaccinated.