HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — The New York State Department of Health has released its first study on how effective the COVID-19 vaccine is against infection and hospitalization.
“Our hope is that this really helps put the numbers out there and resets the conversation,” NYS Department of Health Deputy Director of Science Eli Rosenberg said.
The study collected statewide data over three months. Researchers found that vaccines increased your chance of staying out of the hospital by more than 90%.
“What that means is when we look at vaccinate persons compared to unvaccinated persons they have a 95% lower change of being hospitalized with COVID-19,” Rosenberg said.
But effectiveness against infection has decreased over the course of the study from above 91% in May to just under 80%.
“That is a drop, but I still want everyone to be clear that 80% reduction against COVID-19 is still quite high,” Rosenberg said.
The study sites the delta variant as a possible reason for the decrease. The health department has a mobile vaccine site at the Erie County Fair. They say they average about 12 people a day to get the vaccine. A few received their booster shot. In late winter and early spring, they say they could vaccinate hundreds of people a day.
“First and foremost, we are trying to protect your health as an individual. We are trying to keep you from being sick and needing to go to the hospital or even worse,” Rosenberg said.
The health department says they have plenty of vaccine doses and that vaccination could be critical to your health.
“Vaccines are saving lives and we line up all the data this is what’s going on, your risk of being hospitalized is 95 percent lower,” Rosenberg said. “No one ever thought they were going to be 100 percent or 99 percent protective. But we are showing they’re the most important tool that we have.”
The Erie County Department of Health will continue to host pop-up clinics like this one, they have two coming up on Saturday, one at New Hope Baptist Church and Riverside Park. They’re also planning clinics with school districts for the fall.
