Staten Island communities among highest COVID positivity rates in New York City

STATEN ISLAND, New York (WABC) -- New York City may be starting to celebrate the end of the pandemic, but some communities on Staten Island are proving it's not over yet.

There are 145 zip codes in New York City, and the one with the highest rate of COVID positivity is 10308 on Staten Island, a stretch of strip malls and single-family homes in the Great Kills section, where the positivity rate is above 5%.

So why is COVID surging here? Well, that's COVID.

"It's an opportunist -- it goes to places where it has a chance to spread," New York City Health Commissioner Dr. David Chokshi said.

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COVID has a chance in Great Kills because younger people here are not getting vaccinated, and many of the infections are from the dangerous, nimble and surging delta variant.

"This new version of the virus, the delta variant, is even more easily able to be spread, and it may cause more serious illness as well. So it is a riskier time to remain unvaccinated," Chokshi said.

New York City may be starting to celebrate the end of the pandemic, but some communities on Staten Island are proving it's not over yet.

Are deaths attributed to COVID now, preventable?

"The vast vast majority of people who are hospitalized or who are dying of the coronavirus at this point are people who are not vaccinated," Chokshi said.

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With the new more contagious delta variant of the COVID-19 virus spreading, communities with low vaccination rates are trying to get creative to get more shots into people's arms.

That's true nationally as well.

"With vaccines available across the country the suffering and loss we are now seeing are nearly, entirely avoidable," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.

But only if more people get the vaccine.

You can track the number of cases, hospitalizations and the positivity rate in your neighborhood using at New York City's website.

New York City COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker

New Jersey COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker

How to get the vaccine in NYC, Tri-State area

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on coronavirus

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