Hudson Valley continues to rank among regions with highest COVID-19 infection rates in NY
The Hudson Valley continues to rank among the regions with the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the state.
It currently has a 4.3% infection rate, the second highest in the state.
Vaccine hesitancy is part of the problem, says Westchester County Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler.
"People are just concerned about the safety of the vaccine," she says.
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Amler says the vaccine is safe and effective - and needed to combat what appears to be a rise in cases across the region.
"We noticed about a week ago that our cases were trending up," she says.
Amler says the increase in cases may be attributed to more people gathering and traveling, while not adhering to social distancing and mask-wearing.
"Everything seems to be opening up and to a lot of people the message they get is this is over and we can go back to normal. And that's not where we are at all," she says.
Amler says herd immunity needs to be reached, meaning more people need to roll up their sleeves.
More than 1.4 million doses were administered over the past week, and 1 in 3 New Yorkers have now received at least one dose and 1 in 5 now fully vaccinated.