1 in 4 New Yorkers has received at least 1 COVID-19 vaccine dose
About 1 in 4 New Yorkers has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to state data.
Nearly 7.5 million total doses, including more than 1 million over the past seven days, have been administered statewide, officials said Saturday. While over 5 million New Yorkers -- 25.3% of the state population -- have so far received at least one dose, 13% are fully vaccinated.
Nationwide, 23.3% of Americans have received at least one dose and 12.6% were fully vaccinated as of Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Those eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in New York include people age 60 and older, health care personnel, long-term care facility residents and staff, first responders, teachers and child care workers, public transit workers, grocery store and restaurant workers, people with certain underlying health conditions and, most recently, public-facing public employees.
In a statement, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York is "continuing our outreach across the state to address hesitancy and accessibility so that we can continue getting shots into people's arms as quickly as possible."
"In the meantime," he added, "it is essential that we continue to exercise basic safety protocols so we can continue to build on all the progress we've made on vaccinations."
The push for vaccinations comes as a new COVID-19 variant has been spreading in and around New York City.
As of March 10, the New York variant represented about 39% of all samples sequenced in the most recent week, up from 31% the week before, suggesting it's "a more infectious variant," New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi said at the time.
The New York variant does not appear to cause more serious illness or reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, according to preliminary analysis, health officials said.
ABC News' Joshua Hoyos and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
