What updated Suffolk vaccination data shows

As vaccination appointments have become more widely available, and the state begins to offer walk-in opportunities for those 60 and over, how’s Suffolk County doing in terms of getting shots in arms?

Updated data from the county show that between April 6 and April 18, the number of county residents who received a shot increased by nearly 70,000, or 15.4%. In a few spots, the statistics also may be starting to reveal how many more people are residing in Suffolk than before the pandemic.

As of April 18, 522,377 Suffolk residents were at least partially vaccinated. That’s about 41.8% of the total pool of Suffolk residents who are eligible — which hovers around 1.25 million people.

And it seems the get-out-the-vax effort over the last two weeks was particularly targeted to neighborhoods that have among the lower vaccination rates.

The number of residents receiving shots in ZIP code 11717, which covers parts of Brentwood, for instance, increased 32.5% in those weeks, with 16,969 residents in the area getting at least one jab. As of April 18, the percentage of eligible residents who’d been vaccinated stood at 33.8%, an analysis of the data showed, still far below the overall county percentage.

In Mastic Beach’s ZIP code, 11951, 2,837 residents have received at least one shot — just 25.8% of the ZIP’s eligible population. But the number of vaccinated residents represented a 20% boost from the April 6 dataset, the analysis showed. That’s likely thanks in part to efforts by the county to offer the vaccine directly to that area, including via pop-ups in the community.

Of all of Suffolk’s ZIP codes, 11746, which covers Huntington Station and other neighborhoods, had the highest number of residents vaccinated, with 26,089. That’s far higher than the next highest total, in 11743, another Huntington area ZIP code, which sported 18,984 vaccinated residents. Two Brentwood area ZIP codes – 11717 and 11706 – followed with more than 16,000 each.

A look at the ZIP code data showed some small zones that had nearly 100% of residents – or even more than 100% of residents – vaccinated. How can that be? The eligible population data come from the Census Bureau, and dates back to before the pandemic. In some cases, families have flocked eastward during the last year, boosting those population numbers to levels the Census hasn’t yet captured — but the vaccine data have.

Take Quogue, ZIP code 11959. By Census estimates, about 476 people eligible for the vaccine live there. But by April 18, 577 people from that ZIP had received at least one shot.

And then there’s Fire Island, where ZIP code 11770 has an estimated eligible year-round population of just 48. But as of April 18, a stunning 171 people from that ZIP code have been vaccinated.

Beyond those outliers, in ZIP codes with larger populations, where the data are more reliable, the percentage vaccinated ranges from as high as 64% in Melville’s 11747, where more than 10,000 residents have been vaccinated, down to Mastic Beach’s 25.8%.

The attached map shows, by ZIP code, the number of people who’ve been vaccinated, and the percentage increase between the April 6 and April 18 data sets. The toggle function allows you to switch between the data sets.

This data analysis originally appeared in The Point newsletter. To subscribe, click here.