On Jan. 7, 2022, at the peak of latest coronavirus surge, there were over 90,000 new cases of COVID-19 in New York state. Six months later, on July 17, there were just over 2,600 cases.

According to Nancy McGraw, president of the New York State Association of County Health Officials, the primary reason for the drop is clear.

“The vaccine is working to protect our population,” McGraw told Capital Tonight. 

But she strongly recommends that New Yorkers not let their guard down.

“Because of the emergence of new variants, we are keeping a close eye on [the virus],” she said. “We just want to keep the communities informed.”

The key to keeping communities both informed and vaccinated is funding. 

“Fortunately, we did see some investment in public health in this year’s state budget. That’s been after many years of cuts,” McGraw said. “But our infrastructure remains under-resourced. It really does.”

This year’s $220 billion state budget included $2 billion in immediate COVID-related funding, as well as a billion dollar investment in the health care industry and bonus money for health care and frontline workers.

In discussing the historic lack of investment in public health in New York, McGraw said, “New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said it best when she said overcoming years of underinvestment in public health won’t just be a one-shot deal."

When McGraw was asked if she thinks the state is prepared for the next pandemic, she said yes, but with a big caveat.

“I think we’ve shown that when we follow our public health emergency preparedness plans, the way that they’ve been exercised, written and undertaken by local health departments and our emergency health care partners for years, they really work quite well,” McGraw said. 

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was heavily criticized by county health officials and others at the beginning of the pandemic for bypassing county emergency preparedness plans and instead issuing blanket directives from the state.

Finally, McGraw urged parents of children between the ages of 6 months to 5 years to get them vaccinated. 

“We really need pediatricians and our health care partners to jump on board for this population group,” she said.