‘Keep the momentum going.’ Lexington nears key benchmark in COVID vaccinations
Lexington is moving forward with its door-to-door canvassing to encourage adults and teens to get vaccinated even as it closes in on a key benchmark — nearly 70 percent of adults 18 and older are close to being fully vaccinated, Mayor Linda Gorton said Thursday.
Gorton, in her final coronavirus vaccine update before the Lexington council, said the city’s efforts to get more people vaccinated against the coronavirus are not ceasing. A door-to-door campaign, which recently focused in the Versailles Road area, has proven to be very successful. That campaign led to 160 people vaccinated in one day at a recent coronavirus vaccination clinic.
“We are moving in the right direction,” said Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, Fayette County’s public health commissioner. “Two-thirds of Lexingtonians are fully vaccinated and three-fourths have had one dose. For our most vulnerable population, those over the age of 65, we are getting close to 90 percent. Keep up the momentum Lexington.”
According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, 66 percent of Fayette County residents 18 and older are fully vaccinated and 76 percent have had at least one dose. The fully vaccinated rate for those over the age of 65 is 88 percent.
For comparison, a little less than 50 percent of Fayette County residents get a flu shot, health officials have previously said.
The vaccination rate for those between 12 and 18 is still low with only 18 percent of that population vaccinated.
Fayette County Public Schools, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department and other partners will sponsor a vaccination blitz at 18 schools starting next week to get as many kids as possible vaccinated before school starts, said Humbaugh.
“The Pfizer vaccination was just approved (for kids over the age of 12) six to eight weeks ago,” Humbaugh said Thursday. There will hopefully be more vaccines approved soon for all school-age children.
Those vaccines are working, he said.
“We’re identifying 10 (coronavirus) cases per day,” Humbaugh said. That’s compared to November, December and January when daily new confirmed cases were in the 100s.
“We had six deaths in May,” Humbaugh said. “That’s compared to 61 covid-related deaths in January. That’s one-tenth of what we saw in January. Again, it shows you the power of this vaccine.”
The new Delta variant and other emerging variants are still a cause of concern, he said.
“We don’t have good data to say there is more serious clinical outcomes associated with the Delta variant or if it’s not covered as well by the current vaccines,” Humbaugh said. “Continue to stay tuned about what the science says about that. The concern, however, is with more contagious strains it makes it more important than ever for eligible persons to get vaccinated so they can have some immunity against the COVID-19 virus.”
In January, Fayette County had 6,155 cases of coronavirus. In June, the health department reported 287 cases, the lowest total since May 2020.
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 3:48 PM.
