The state has announced another new tactic to try to drive up vaccination rates amid a surge in coronavirus cases fueled by the delta variant.

Seventy-five percent of adult New Yorkers have gotten at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to CDC data. But according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the number of unvacinated New Yorkers is still too high, and with the delta variant spreading, the state is starting to see a steep increase in positive cases.

Last month, the state was seeing around 300 positive cases each day. But on Monday, Cuomo announced in a press conference that more than 1,900 COVID-19 tests came back positive in the last day.

Seventy-two percent of the cases in the state are linked to the delta variant, the governor said. Only .15% of the cases are from vaccinated New Yorkers, according to the governor.

“We see the COVID numbers and we see the reality and we know what we have to do,” Cuomo added.

To target vaccine hesitancy, the governor announced that $15 million in state funding will be provided to six community based organizations that operate across the state. The organizations to receive funding are the Hispanic Federation, the Asian American Federation, the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, the Apicha Community Health Center, the New York Immigration Coalition, and the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies.

“We need a different approach, and the approach has to be community-based organizations who can have conversations in the community with people who know them, who culturally know them,” Cuomo said. “It’s not going to be a top-down message. It has to be someone who speaks their language, literally and figuratively.” 

The governor also said that the state is continuing to close more vaccination sites as demand decreases.