COVID-19 Vaccination Desert In Wash Heights Despite High Rates

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — There are zero city-sponsored COVID-19 vaccine distribution sites above 136th Street in Manhattan.

Other sites, which opened for the first time Sunday, allow eligible New Yorkers to sign up for free COVID-19 vaccine shots across the city.

However, despite the 23 vaccine sites currently open in Manhattan, not one is above 136th Street — let alone in Inwood or Washington Heights.

The absence of vaccine sites in the two Upper Manhattan neighborhoods is noteworthy in light of their high infection rates.

Inwood and Washington Heights have consistently posted the highest COVID-19 positivity rates in Manhattan, at times recording some of the highest numbers in all five boroughs.

In addition, COVID-19 rates have not dropped in the two neighborhoods in recent weeks.

According to the most recent data from the city, ZIP codes in Washington Heights and Inwood currently have three of the four highest COVID-19 rates of any in Manhattan.

Yet, if an Inwood or Washington Heights resident wants a vaccine, they must travel below 140th Street.

While the city expects to continue opening new vaccine sites in the coming days and weeks, Inwood and Washington Heights were again not included in the 12 more vaccine hubs announced to open Friday.

"New York City has set up a massive vaccination infrastructure and consolidated a website and hotline to help those eligible get the vaccinations they need," a spokesperson from Mayor Bill de Blasio's office told Patch. "In the past week, this system gave over 100,000 New Yorkers a vaccine shot. But we won't let that success stop us from continually expanding sites and improving the process to speed it up."

Eligible residents on the Upper East Side of Manhattan could choose from one of three vaccine sites they could walk to in their neighborhood on Monday. The UES has an average COVID-19 positivity rate of 2.98 percent for the week of Jan. 2-8, according to the city.

However, Inwood and Washington Heights, with its zero vaccine sites, has an average positivity rate of 8.125 percent for the same period of time, according to the city. That is almost three times higher than the Upper East Side positivity rate.

In terms of where the rest of the vaccine sites in Manhattan exist, eight are in Harlem, three are on the previously mentioned Upper East Side, one on the Upper West Side, two in Midtown, three in the Chelsea area, and six are in Lower Manhattan.

Upper Manhattan politicians minced no words about the importance of opening vaccine sites in Inwood and Washington Heights.

Assembly Member Carmen De La Rosa, who represents the two neighborhoods, referenced the more than 500 "neighbors" who died from the virus in 2020, before delving into how essential it is to get vaccine sites open.

"It is critical at this time, in addition to having testing sites, that we also now have vaccination sites," De La Rosa, who represents Inwood and Washington Heights, told Patch. "It is the only way that front-line workers in my district who have continued to work despite the pandemic can get vaccinated."

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez reiterated the importance of local vaccine sites.

"All underserved communities, especially those hit the hardest by COVID-19 should be included from the start," Rodriguez said to Patch. "It is unacceptable that Northern Manhattan having currently among some of the highest rates of COVID-19 aren't included within the first few hospitals and health centers providing vaccine appointments."