The predominately Black neighborhoods in central Brooklyn are among the least-vaccinated communities in the city, according to new data.
Data released on Feb. 16 by the Department of Health shows two zip codes — 11213 and 11221 — covering parts of eastern Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Bushwick with particularly troubling statistics, as just 4 percent of adults have received their first dose of the vaccine.
In Crown Heights’ 11213 zip code, 1,939 adults have been partially vaccinated, while 1,329 adults have been fully vaccinated. In the Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick 11221 zip code, just 2,552 adults have been partially vaccinated, while just 1,569 have received both doses — despite the zip codes having a population of 64,000 and 79,000, respectively.
As both neighborhoods feature large Black populations, highlighting the challenges the city faces in reaching the hardest hit populations, some of whom may be distrustful of the federal government that authorized the jab.
Also among the lowest zip codes are areas in the south Bronx and central Queens.
The areas with the highest vaccination rates have larger white populations, such as 10314, encompassing west Staten Island, where 9 percent of adults at 7,015 people have received one shot, and 6 percent of adults at 4,589 people have received both doses.
The areas with the lowest vaccination rates have had some of the highest infection rates throughout the pandemic. One out of every 17 people in 11213 has been diagnosed with COVID-19 throughout the past year according to Health Department data, while 168 people have died.
During a press briefing, Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged to do more outreach in vaccine-skeptical communities to get towards New York’s goal of administering 5 million vaccine doses by June.
“This effort will not stop,” de Blasio said, adding that new vaccination sites opening Wednesday will include one at Teachers Preparatory High School on Bristol Street. “We’re going to go deeper and deeper into communities to make sure there is equity.”
