Almost 90% of Lackawanna senior citizens fully COVID-19 vaccinated

Jun. 23—Lackawanna County jumped to third among the state's 67 counties in percentage of senior citizens fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to federal data Wednesday.

With 36,926 residents 65 and older, or 86.6%, fully vaccinated, the county ranks behind only Montour County, 92.3%, and Lehigh County, 91.1%, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

No other local county ranks in the top 20. A month ago, Lackawanna ranked seventh based on state statistics.

County chief of staff Brian Jeffers credited county Area Agency on Aging director Jason Kavulich for concentrating hard on getting residents of all ages vaccinated. For weeks, the county has trailed only Montour in percentage of residents 18 and older fully vaccinated.

"Jason worked really hard," Jeffers said Wednesday. "I think we will be at over 70% fully vaccinated by the time we come back from the Fourth of July."

As of Wednesday, 75.4% of county adults received at least one vaccine dose with 66.5% fully vaccinated, the CDC data shows. That outpaces the state as a whole.

Pennsylvania has 74.6% of adults with at least one dose, but only 59.1% fully vaccinated, according to the CDC data.

In early May, Gov. Tom Wolf said he would lift all remaining masking requirements when at least 70% of adults were fully vaccinated. Three weeks later, he decided to alter that to 70% fully vaccinated or next Monday, whichever came first. The state will likely fall well short of 70% by Monday, but Wolf said last week he will end required masking anyway.

Kavulich said his agency sometimes closed its offices so he and his staff could work on vaccination clinics. They focused on senior citizens especially early on when they were part of the first group authorized for vaccinations.

"We're still going at it," Kavulich said. "We're going to do door-to-door" and targeting rural neighborhoods where some churches have offered to host vaccination clinics.

The state Department of Health reported 174 new cases and eight new deaths statewide Wednesday, raising the totals to 1,210,820 cases and 27,612 deaths.

The seven-county northeast recorded a net of 13 new cases and no new deaths, leaving the totals at 78,256 cases and 1,879 deaths.

By county:

Lackawanna added one case for 18,540 total, including 2,903 probable, and remained at 481 deaths.

Luzerne added seven cases for 32,074 total, including 2,622 probable. One new death raised the total to 824 deaths.

Monroe added two cases for 14,810 total, including 464 probable, and remained at 321 deaths.

Pike remained at 4,033 cases, including 432 probable, and 54 deaths.

Susquehanna declined by one case to 2,658, including 348 probable, and remained at 62 deaths.

Wayne added four cases 4,145 total, including 442 probable, and remained at 84 deaths.

Wyoming remained at 1,996 cases, including 356 probable, but had its death toll reduced by one to 53.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.