Nassau County Executive Laura Curran announced Friday that the county reached a milestone in its vaccination efforts.

Curran says that 80% of adult residents have received at least one COVID vaccine dose.

The county executive credits the work of health care professionals, the county health department and the approach taken by Nassau's residents.

"They're very common sense," says Curran. "They understand the benefits of vaccination. They see how it's allowing us to reclaim our summer and my hat goes off to them."

The county also continues to overperform in state and national vaccination rates among seniors as well as Black and Latino residents. Nassau exceeds the statewide vaccination percentage in several key categories, with 95% of seniors having received at least one dose compared to 85% across the state. Sixty-four percent of Latinos over the age of 15 have received a shot compared to 59% statewide; and 43% of African Americans over the age of 15 are at least partially vaccinated, which is 38% higher than the statewide tally.

"This virus has not disappeared, and as more contagious COVID-19 variants like Delta emerge, getting vaccinated remains the single best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from getting sick or dying from COVID," says Curran.

Bishop Lionel Harvey, Nassau's deputy director for Diversity and Engagement, says the goal now is to encourage even more people in Nassau's minority communities and beyond to get vaccinated.

"The more we get people vaccinated, the closer we can get to herd immunity," says Harvey. "The closer we can get to full normalcy and feel safe."

In Suffolk, nearly 73% of adults have received at least one vaccine dose.