Roughly 20 percent of Stanly residents have been partially vaccinated
Published 3:10 pm Thursday, April 1, 2021
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After months of vaccinations, Stanly County has hit a milestone: Almost a fifth of all residents in Stanly County are now partially vaccinated, according to state data.
A total of 12,463 people in the county have received at least one dose of the vaccine, as of Thursday, which accounts for 19.8 percent of the total population. While it is not quite on par with the statewide percentage of 23.8, it is higher than many other neighboring counties including Cabarrus (17.2), Mecklenburg (18.7), Rowan (15.9) and Union (18.1).
“All the credit is due to our employees that have remained dedicated and flexible in meeting the needs of the public throughout this pandemic,” Health Director David Jenkins said about the milestone. He noted health department officials are currently vaccinating upwards of 400 people a day.
The number of people in the county who are now fully vaccinated — 8,482 — accounts for 13.5 percent of the total population. That’s also higher than many neighboring counties though lower than the statewide percentage of 16.1 percent.
The Stanly County Health Department has accounted for much of the vaccinations, having administered 10,435 first doses and 5,812 second doses as of Thursday.
Roughly 60 percent of people in the county between ages 65 and 74 and people over 75 have been partially vaccinated. Almost 25 percent of people ages 25 to 49 have been partially vaccinated.
For the second straight week, the health department received doses of the Pfizer vaccine. It received 1,970 vaccine doses this week — 1,170 Pfizer first doses and 800 Moderna second doses. This is the same amount the department received last week.
It’s hard to get a consistent read on the trajectory of new cases, since they can often fluctuate from day-to-day. Though there’s been a noticeable decrease in cases compared to the beginning of the year, daily cases in March, with some exceptions, tended to remain in the 10s.
Stanly’s rolling seven-day average positivity rate, as of Thursday afternoon, is 8.0 percent, per the state Health and Human Services Department, higher than the state’s overall rate of 4.4 percent.
Statewide, there have been almost 11.4 million tests conducted resulting in at least 916,159 cases. A total of at 985 people were reported hospitalized Wednesday, and 12,136 people have died.
About Chris Miller
Chris Miller has been with the SNAP since January 2019. He is a graduate of NC State and received his Master's in Journalism from the University of Maryland. He previously wrote for the Capital News Service in Annapolis, where many of his stories on immigration and culture were published in national papers via the AP wire.
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