NYC Gazette

98.1 percent of New York County COVID-19 patients have survived as of Dec. 28, according to the COVID-19 Data Repository by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The CSSE confirmed there were 249,399 COVID-19 cases in New York County by Dec. 28.

There were 4,706 fatalities, equalling 1.9 percent of New York County's COVID-19 patients.

More than 50 percent of US citizens are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19, nearing the target for "herd immunity." Herd immunity happens when enough of the population has become immune to the virus from previous infection that it effectively protects those who are not immune.

"The number of people who are immune to the coronavirus is increasing every day," professors David Dowdy and Gypsyamber D'Souza said in an interview.