More than 50% of Pennsylvania adults fully vaccinated for covid

May 20—Pennsylvania passed a milestone with more than 50% of adults considered fully vaccinated against covid-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 5,088,210 million adults — those 18 and older — who are considered fully vaccinated. That's 50.1% of the adult population. Pennsylvania's mask mandate can be lifted when 70% of the state's adults are fully vaccinated.

The CDC also reported that 40.1% of all Pennsylvanians (5.1 million) are considered fully vaccinated and 55.4% (7 million) have at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

In Allegheny County, 721,245 residents — (58.9% of all residents) — have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, while 519,540 individuals are fully covered (42.4% of all residents).

"Getting vaccinated is really the key to keeping the numbers low. It's really that simple," Dr. Debra Bogen, the Allegheny County Health Department director, said Wednesday in her weekly press briefing. "Covid-19 might never fully go away, but with enough people vaccinated, we can manage small outbreaks mainly among the unvaccinated and regain control of our lives."

Allegheny is among the top counties in Pennsylvania for vaccination rates, according to data from the state. Chester (63.3%) and Montour (59.3%) are the only counties with more people having received at least one dose. Fulton County is last on the list with 22% of its residents having received at least one dose.

Westmoreland County is in the top third among counties for residents having received at least one dose.

The state reported that 165,356 of county residents (45.2% of residents) had received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, while 129,527 individuals are fully covered (35.4% of residents).

Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease expert and a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said he's looking to Israel as a benchmark of when enough of the population is vaccinated to begin seeing significant decline in covid-19. In Israel, he said, they saw a "precipitous decline in cases" after 40% of their total population was vaccinated.

Gov. Tom Wolf has set his sights on having 70% of adults fully vaccinated in order to completely lift a mask mandate. Adalja said people will see the benefits of mass vaccination before Pennsylvania reaches that threshold.

"I suspect we will likely achieve a high degree of control before 70% of adults are fully vaccinated," he said Thursday. "In Pennsylvania, we have successfully decoupled cases from hospitalizations, and that was the primary goal of the vaccine and the impetus for the public health emergency."

Even as vaccination numbers climb, it's important more people continue getting vaccinated, he said.

"The more people are vaccinated, the less disrupted covid will be to people's lives, so having a high vaccination rate makes it much easier to return to pre-pandemic life," Adalja said.

Dr. Amy Crawford-Faucher, vice chair of the primary care institute and the department of family medicine for Allegheny Health Network, said reaching the milestone of half of Pennsylvanians being fully vaccinated is a moment worth celebrating.

"After all the work that so many people have been putting into vaccine efforts, if we can say we've hit half the people, I'm going to take it as a glass half-full and say that is wonderful news," she said.

In Allegheny County and other areas where vaccine uptake has been steady, she said, she's feeling optimistic. But she cautioned that vaccination rates aren't high enough in some parts of the state to warrant that level of optimism.

"Everybody who really, really wanted the vaccine has gotten it," she said. "Now our job is a little bit different. Our job is to reach out to people who are saying they still have questions, they still have concerns."

She urged those who remain hesitant to get the covid-19 vaccine to talk with trusted doctors or health care experts.

Cases

Covid cases reported Thursday in Pennsylvania, as well as Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, were slightly higher than Wednesday.

The Allegheny County Health Department reported 140 additional cases — 66 confirmed and 74 probable — on Thursday, with the county's total reaching 100,600.

While Allegheny recorded more cases Thursday than Wednesday, the seven-day average of cases still fell a notch to 127, which is a 24.4% drop from last Thursday. The seven-day total number of cases has been below 1,000 for three straight days.

Bogen on Wednesday said while cases are low, new cases generally still are traced to the same sources as before — maskless gatherings, indoors, with individuals who haven't received vaccines, including parties and family gatherings.

Recent outbreaks have been traced to church youth groups, skating rink outings and sporting events, she said.

The new coronavirus cases in Allegheny County — 60 male and 80 female — range in age from two weeks to 96 years with a median age of 33.

Westmoreland County saw an additional 53 cases — 14 confirmed and 39 probable. The county's overall total stands at 33,827. The seven-day average of cases in the county was 46, which was a 19.2% drop from last Thursday.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,430 additional cases, with its total increasing to 1,191,532. The seven-day average of cases was 1,465, a 29.7% drop from last Thursday.

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Alison Beam thanked federal pharmacy partners for their help distributing covid vaccine to residents across the state and said the collaboration would continue.

"We should all be incredibly proud of this progress that is being made in no small part thanks to our retail pharmacy partners," Beam said.

Representatives from nine pharmacies — including national chains such as Walgreens, Rite Aid and Topco — have signed a letter of intent their partnership with the state Department of Health and pledging continued cooperation.

Hospitalizations

The number of residents who are hospitalized statewide for the virus is 1,309, down 44 from Wednesday, according to state data, with 310 covid patients in an intensive care unit and 194 on ventilators.

Hospitalizations in the state have been down every day except for one this month. There were 2,207 people hospitalized for covid on May 1.

According to the state's data, 133 Allegheny County residents are hospitalized for covid (down four from Wednesday), 50 of them are in intensive care units and 32 of them are on ventilators.

Hospitalizations in the county have been trending downward this month — there were 200 people hospitalized on May 1 and, while there have been a few days with additions, the number has mostly fallen each day.

In Westmoreland County, 27 covid patients (up four from Wednesday) are hospitalized with five in the ICU and six on a ventilator.

Deaths

The state health department reported 40 additional covid-related deaths, as the state's total grew to 26,965. Of the newly reported deaths, 38 are from May, one is from April and one is from February.

The Allegheny County Health Department on Thursday reported one new death, which was from December, of a person in their 80s. The death total stands at 1,930, according to the county.

The state health department has a total of 1,957 deaths for Allegheny County. No reason has been given for the discrepancy between the two health departments.

Westmoreland County saw no additional covid-related deaths: The total number of covid deaths in the county stands at 760.

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