Dr. Mendoza: 97.7% of local COVID infections since March 1 were unvaccinated people

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The vast majority of coronavirus infections since the beginning of March in Monroe County have been in people who have not been vaccinated, Dr. Michael Mendoza, Monroe County’s public health commissioner, shared in a tweet.

“97.7% of the positive cases since 3/1 were in people who report NOT having been vaccinated appropriately against COVID,” Mendoza tweeted.

Many of the cases, the public health commissioner added, were in children who were ineligible for a vaccine at the time.

Dr. Nana Bennett, Finger Lakes Vaccine Hub leader, stressed the importance of continuing to roll out the vaccine.

“We really would like to see them get vaccinated, reduce our numbers to the point where we have no disease in our community,” Bennett told News 8.

Cases in Monroe County are trending down; just 33 cases were reported by the county Wednesday.

Dr. Bennett notes the uphill battle with vaccinating counties surrounding Monroe.

According to state numbers: 58% of Monroe County’s total population has at least one vaccine dose. In western neighbor Orleans County, that number is 42.7%. In Livingston County, 48.7%, and 43.5% in Wyoming county.

“If you’re in a small community where 40-50% of people are vaccinated, the virus can still circulate. So we really need to get everyone up to those higher numbers.”

Now, Bennett says, the focus of distributing the vaccine will lie in smaller, community-based sites.

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