COVID-19 Delta Variant Dominant in NY w/ Alarming Infection Rate

New York State just launched a new website to track the spread of COVID-19 variants, such as the Delta variant. As of September 18, 2021, the Delta variant is dominating the positive COVID cases in the state,

For samples of SARS-CoV-2 collected between August 29 and September 11, 2021 from New York State that are sequenced and entered into Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID), 99.4% were the Delta variant, an increase from 99.0% in the previous two-week period.
Between September 11 and September 18, CDC’s program for HHS Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico) estimated 98.1% of samples were the Delta variant, compared to 98.2% in the previous one-week period.

As you can see in the data provided above, almost 100 percent of the positive COVID-19 cases in New York are the Delta variant. The same website also is tracking the spread of the Mu variant, which during the same timeframe - August 29 and September 11 - made up 0.3 percent of the COVID-19 cases in New York. The data on the spread of the Delta and Mu variants was provided from the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data.

Almost 80,000 Fully Vaccinated People in New York State Have Gotten COVID-19

Also revealed in Governor Kathy Hochul's recent COVID-19 update on September 24, nearly 80,000 New Yorkers who have tested positive for COVID-19 are fully vaccinated. Breakthrough cases reported to the New York State Health Department were 78,416, as of September 20, 2021,

The breakthrough data shows that as of September 20, 2021, the New York State Department of Health is aware of 78,416 laboratory-confirmed breakthrough cases of COVID-19 among fully-vaccinated people in New York State, which corresponds to 0.7% of fully-vaccinated people 12-years or older. Also, 5,555 hospitalizations with COVID-19 among fully-vaccinated people in New York State, which corresponds to 0.05% of the population of fully-vaccinated people 12-years or older.

Yesterday, Gov. Hochul encouraged New Yorkers to get vaccinated to help stop the spread,

"New York State is taking decisive action to curb the spread of COVID-19 as we continue to contend with this pandemic across the state. There's no better solution than getting vaccinated, and that's why we need every single eligible New Yorker to get a shot as soon as possible. We're working to keep children and families safe, but the vaccine will deliver us into the state's future and help us truly recover from this devastating time."

As of September 24, 24,965,748 residents of New York have been vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are not among them, but would like to get your vaccine, you can call 1-833-NYS-4-VAX or visit vaccines.gov.