Long Island’s COVID-19 status

As of June 6, Long Island’s population is approximately 51% fully vaccinated, and 58.9% with at least a single dose of the vaccine.

According to Newsday’s estimates, Long Island is predicted to reach 70% vaccinated by Aug. 8, 2021. The 70% is frequently referenced as the “herd immunity threshold,” where the spread of the virus from person-to-person becomes unlikely, protecting even the unvaccinated members of our community.

This estimate assumes that the current vaccination rate keeps pace, and could change if Long Islanders choose not to be vaccinated. Readers can see here how the estimate has changed in the past few months.

With the summer approaching, current daily cases and positivity rates have been trending downwards since April, so Long Islanders have good reason to feel optimistic and positive. However, if vaccination rates do not keep pace, the rise of the various COVID-19 variants pose a risk.

The alpha variant is currently the dominant variant in the United States, but the delta variant already have parts of the world concerned. Right now it accounts for 18% of cases in parts of the U.S.

Rewind to 2020, there was a similar decline in the summer, only to be followed by a massive spike in cases in the fall and winter.