DPHD: COVID-19 vaccine dose usage dropping

0

The Delaware Public Health District is asking people to either show up for their vaccination appointment or cancel it if they won’t be attending.

“We’re seeing a large number of people not showing up for their scheduled appointment,” the health district posted on Facebook Tuesday. “If you do not plan to come for your scheduled appointment, please use the cancellation link in your confirmation email or email [email protected].”

The DPHD’s weekly COVID-19 Vaccine Breakdown was released Tuesday instead of the usual Monday. It said 27,080 doses have been received so far, and 22,325 doses have been administered, meaning 82% of the doses have been used. That’s down from the 90% or more percentages the district had been reporting.

Health officials recommend being fully vaccinated for the most effective protection against contracting the coronavirus. Fully vaccinated means a full two weeks after getting both shots of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. If you got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires one shot, it would again be a full two weeks after you received the shot.

The district said 1,215 doses are reserved for this week’s clinics, and there are 3,137 upcoming appointments. The district said there are “available appointments for this week at DelawareHealth.org/covid-19vaccine

Lastly, the district noted National Volunteer Week by posting on April 23, “We’re so thankful for our amazing Medical Reserve Corps volunteers who have donated hundreds of hours to combating COVID-19 in our community! There is simply no way we could have administered over 26,000 COVID-19 vaccines without them! The words “Thank You” will never be enough to express our gratitude!”

Delaware is the only county in the state to have more than half of its population started on the vaccine, said the Ohio Department of Health. There are 107,979 county residents who have started on the vaccine, or more than 5,000 than the previous week.

In addition, 81,110 Delaware County residents have completed the vaccine, nearly 39%. Again, this leads all 88 counties in Ohio.

The Ohio Department of Health’s COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard said 4.6 million Ohioans have started on the vaccine, almost 40% of the population. Statewide, 3.5 million have completed the vaccine, or 30% of the population.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said that by percentage of population fully vaccinated, Alaska led the way at 34.5%. However, in terms of people fully vaccinated, Ohio ranked seventh in the nation. California is the only state to have exceeded the 10 million mark of people fully vaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Data Tracker said 297.5 million vaccine doses have been delivered in the United States, with 232.4 million administered.

There are 141.7 million Americans who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, or 42.7% of the total population. Also, 96.7 million Americans, or 29%, are fully vaccinated.

The CDC is now saying “people who have been fully vaccinated can safely gather outdoors in small groups without masks.”

https://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2021/04/web1_CoronaVirusLogo-1-1-5.jpg

By Gary Budzak

[email protected]

Gary Budzak may be reached at 740-413-0906 or on Twitter @GaryBudzak.

No posts to display