Two southern Brooklyn zip codes with vaccination rates below 50 percent are seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases.
City testing data shows the 11224 zip code — comprising Brighton Beach, Coney Island, and Seagate — has a 39 percent of residents fully vaccinated, boasts a seven-day COVID-19 infection rate of 5.48 percent, which represents the second-highest rate in the city, behind only Annadale in Staten Island.
The 11234 zip code — covering Bergen Beach, Flatlands, Marine Park, and Mill Basin — is not far behind with 41 percent of residents fully vaccinated, and a 4.55 percent infection rate.
Both those zip codes, however, rank slightly above the bottom in terms of fully inoculated residents, as the 11691 area of Edgemere and Far Rockaway in Queens is the lowest with only 36 of its residents having a completed vaccine cycle.
In Brooklyn, the zip code with the lowest vaccination rate is 11233 — covering Bedford-Stuyvesant, Ocean Hill, and Brownsville — at 36 percent.
Other areas of Kings County with low vaccination rates include Flatlands and Midwood’s 11210 zip code, Canarsie’s 11236, and Borough Park’s 11219 — all of which hover slightly above 36 percent of residents fully inoculated.
The numbers come as the Delta variant of COVID-19 has swept through the city, causing the seven-day average infection rate to spike from 1.18 to 2.55 percent over the last three weeks, according to city data.
Though that has worried health officials, Mayor Bill de Blasio has upheld his previous announcement that the mask mandate will not return to the Big Apple despite the rising infection rates.
City Councilman Mark Treyger, whose district includes Gravesend, Coney Island and Sea Gate, said the Mayor’s Office and city Health Department are to blame for the low vaccination rates in his diverse language-speaking district — arguing city officials have not conducted enough outreach in the community, especially in other languages, to encourage his constituents to get the vaccine and dispel any inaccurate information about the vaccine.
“Tens of thousands of my constituents speak another language at home, and don’t rely on English-language media to get information,” Treyger said in a statement to Brooklyn Paper. “The Mayor’s office and the Health Department must do more to get the right information out there, to tackle any false claims about the vaccine, and encourage folks to get tested and get vaccinated, including partnering with trusted community leaders like primary care providers.”
He added that the city must work much harder to inform all city dwellers of the importance of inoculation and to not close sites too early so getting the lifesaving jab is still an option for those who need it.
As the Delta variant continues to spread, it is vital that we aggressively and continuously communicate that vaccines save lives and prevent hospitalization and that we keep sites open for people to easily access the vaccine,” Treyger said.
This story has been updated on Wednesday, July 28 at 4:40 pm to reflect the most recent data available.
