BUFFALO, N.Y. — Nearly 39 percent of Erie County residents have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, the county health department reported Friday.
The county says 354,676 residents (38.6 percent) have had one dose, while 228,096 residents (24.8 percent) have completed the vaccine series.
Those numbers are based on information provided by the New York State Department of Health.
"Erie County has experienced a strong and sustained increase in new COVID-19 cases, and we suspect that more easily transmitted variants of concern are driving much of this surge in cases," Erie County health commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein said in a statement.
"Without the protective benefits of COVID-19 vaccine for so many in our community, that number could have been even higher. Masks, social distancing, staying home when ill and getting a diagnostic test if you have symptoms or an exposure are the day-to-day tools we have to turn this tide of new cases."