Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on State’s Progress Combating COVID-19

By HOCHUL PRESS OFFICE | December 17, 2021


237,596 Vaccine Doses Administered Over Last 24 Hours

53 COVID-19 Deaths Statewide Yesterday

Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state’s progress combating COVID-19.

“This is a public health crisis. We must not make light of the winter surge that we are facing, and we should continue to encourage everyone we know to get vaccinated, get the booster and wear a mask,” Governor Hochul said. “Let’s all get through this holiday season safely. There are testing sites and boosters widely available across the state in order to keep ourselves and our loved ones from getting seriously ill due to COVID- 19.”

Today’s data is summarized briefly below:

  • Test Results Reported – 277,956
  • Total Positive – 18,276
  • Percent Positive – 6.58%
  • 7-Day Average Percent Positive – 5.11%
  • Patient Hospitalization – 3,765 (-19)
  • Patients Newly Admitted – 526
  • Patients in ICU – 762 (+35)
  • Patients in ICU with Intubation – 433 (+10)
  • Total Discharges – 221,831 (+532)
  • New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 53
  • Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 47,370

The Health Electronic Response Data System is a NYS DOH data source that collects confirmed daily death data as reported by hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities only.

  • Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC – 60,152

This daily COVID-19 provisional death certificate data reported by NYS DOH and NYC to the CDC includes those who died in any location, including hospitals, nursing homes, adult care facilities, at home, in hospice and other settings.

  • Total vaccine doses administered – 31,971,609
  • Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours – 237,596
  • Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days – 1,067,323
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose – 87.7%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series – 79.8%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) – 93.8%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 82.1%
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose – 76.3%
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series – 68.7%
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) – 81.4%
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 70.7%

Each region’s 7-day average of cases per 100K population is as follows:

REGION Monday, December 13, 2021 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Wednesday, December 14, 2021
Capital Region 58.65 59.16 58.08
Central New York 64.92 65.10 65.10
Finger Lakes 61.42 60.26 56.25
Long Island 67.74 70.79 77.86
Mid-Hudson 47.72 49.28 52.92
Mohawk Valley 74.80 73.15 74.21
New York City 42.59 46.84 53.75
North Country 66.63 64.00 61.51
Southern Tier 85.21 89.64 96.54
Western New York 66.17 63.52 62.21
Statewide 54.15 56.43 60.66

Each region’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:

REGION Monday, December 13, 2021 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Wednesday, December 14, 2021
Capital Region 6.43% 6.65% 6.34%
Central New York 7.65% 7.94% 7.58%
Finger Lakes 8.39% 8.52% 8.18%
Long Island 6.77% 7.12% 7.53%
Mid-Hudson 4.59% 4.65% 5.02%
Mohawk Valley 7.77% 7.85% 7.85%
New York City 2.90% 3.16% 3.56%
North Country 7.72% 7.67% 7.23%
Southern Tier 6.24% 6.56% 6.70%
Western New York 9.27% 9.23% 9.29%
Statewide 4.65% 4.83% 5.11%

Each New York City borough’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:

BOROUGH Monday, December 13, 2021 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 Wednesday, December 14, 2021
Bronx 2.70% 2.91% 3.15%
Kings 2.76% 2.99% 3.41%
New York 2.42% 2.80% 3.45%
Queens 3.32% 3.54% 3.81%
Richmond 4.55% 4.62% 4.70%

Yesterday, 18,276 New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total compiled by HERDS to 2,874,781. A geographic breakdown is as follows:

County Total Positive New Positive Total Omicron Cases Confirmed Statewide: 59*
Albany 36,959 186
Allegany 6,618 49
Broome 30,617 214 1
Cattaraugus 10,925 59
Cayuga 10,579 68
Chautauqua 16,577 111
Chemung 14,010 80
Chenango 6,190 53
Clinton 8,917 70
Columbia 6,301 25
Cortland 6,604 45
Delaware 5,029 36
Dutchess 40,340 231
Erie 135,342 654
Essex 3,309 18
Franklin 6,033 33
Fulton 8,547 38
Genesee 9,534 59
Greene 5,384 28
Hamilton 565 2
Herkimer 9,254 66
Jefferson 12,501 53
Lewis 4,565 17
Livingston 7,940 41
Madison 8,229 64
Monroe 105,131 421
Montgomery 7,834 35
Nassau 240,073 1,648 6
Niagara 31,529 144
NYC 1,186,911 8,318 30
Oneida 36,003 217 4
Onondaga 64,227 320 1
Ontario 12,959 81
Orange 66,065 336
Orleans 6,115 27
Oswego 15,742 143
Otsego 6,113 49
Putnam 14,000 68
Rensselaer 19,102 87
Rockland 57,487 198
Saratoga 27,399 185
Schenectady 20,814 89
Schoharie 3,112 23
Schuyler 2,192 26
Seneca 3,640 25
St. Lawrence 14,247 70
Steuben 13,838 72
Suffolk 272,396 1,800 14
Sullivan 10,550 86
Tioga 7,048 61
Tompkins 9,234 391 2
Ulster 20,435 104
Warren 8,169 56
Washington 7,584 51
Wayne 11,471 78
Westchester 154,426 730 1
Wyoming 5,844 19
Yates 2,222 18
Unknown

* These case counts represent those known cases that have been confirmed by a state approved laboratory, and do not fully represent the total cases likely in the population.

Yesterday, 53 New Yorkers died due to COVID-19, bringing the total to 47,370. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:

Deaths by County of Residence
County New Deaths
Bronx 1
Broome 1
Cattaraugus 1
Cayuga 1
Chautauqua 2
Erie 6
Essex 1
Greene 1
Kings 2
Manhattan 3
Monroe 2
Nassau 1
Niagara 3
Onondaga 5
Ontario 1
Queens 6
Richmond 2
Saratoga 2
Schenectady 2
St. Lawrence 1
Suffolk 5
Sullivan 1
Ulster 1
Wayne 1
Westchester 1

All New York State mass vaccination sites are open to eligible New Yorkers aged 5 and older, with walk-in vaccination available at all sites on a first-come, first-serve basis for people aged 12 and older. Information on which sites require appointments for children in the 5-11 age group is available on our website. People who prefer to make an  appointment at a state-run mass vaccination site can do so on the Am I Eligible App or by calling 1-833-NYS-4-VAX. People may also contact their local health department, pharmacy, doctor or hospital to schedule appointments where vaccines are available, or visit vaccines.gov to find information on vaccine appointments near them.

New Yorkers looking to schedule vaccine appointments for 5-11-year-old children are encouraged to contact their child’s pediatrician, family physician, county health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), rural health centers, or pharmacies that may be administering the vaccine for this age group. Parents and guardians can visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations. Make sure that the provider offers the Pfizer-BioNTechCOVID-19 vaccine, as the other COVID-19 vaccines are not yet authorized for this age group.

Visit our website for parents and guardians for new information, frequently asked questions and answers, and resources specifically designed for parents and guardians of this age group.

Yesterday, 71,107 New Yorkers received their first vaccine dose, and 64,396 completed their vaccine series. A geographic breakdown of New Yorkers who have been vaccinated by region is as follows:

  People with at least
one vaccine dose
People with complete
vaccine series
Region Cumulative
Total
Increase over
past 24 hours
Cumulative
Total
Increase over
past 24 hours
Capital Region 924,575 49,317 848,479 48,398
Central New York 622,668 273 575,220 671
Finger Lakes 827,382 544 763,428 864
Long Island 2,048,829 3,684 1,821,210 2,340
Mid-Hudson 1,600,514 2,467 1,403,771 2,227
Mohawk Valley 313,392 156 289,654 391
New York City 7,403,397 13,545 6,560,084 7,351
North Country 291,165 239 262,096 213
Southern Tier 421,314 347 385,868 371
Western New York 910,872 535 831,648 1,570
Statewide 15,364,108 71,107 13,741,458 64,396

The COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker Dashboard is available to update New Yorkers on the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The New York State Department of Health requires vaccinating facilities to report all COVID-19 vaccine administration data within 24 hours; the vaccine administration data on the dashboard is updated daily to reflect the most up-to-date metrics in the state’s vaccination effort. New York State Department of Health-reported data from NYSIIS and CIR differs slightly from federally-reported data, which is inclusive of federally-administered doses and other minor differences. Both numbers are included in the release above.

** Increase in the Capital Region is due to large data submission from a single organization based in Albany.