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July 24 – Pontiac – Oakland County has met the national and national vaccination rate goal of having at least one dose administered to 70% of adults – and a handful of other counties are not far behind.
Michigan’s second county has 1.2 million people and is the second in the state to meet the goal after Leelanau County, which has 77% of its 19,500 residents vaccinated.
Oakland County Director Dave Coulter announced Friday that although this is a milestone, the county is wary of highly transmissible variants of COVID-19 that continue to spread.
Michigan had 13,772 confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants as of Tuesday – the majority, or 13,301 cases, being B.1.1.7. There are also 318 known cases of P.1. variant and 71 known cases of the delta variant in the state.
“While meeting this vaccination goal is an important time to recognize, we are not done fighting this pandemic,” Coulter said in a statement. “The delta variant of the virus is still present in Oakland State and County and these new COVID mutations are very contagious. With 30% of our population still unvaccinated, we cannot completely return to normal.”
Next, Coulter said the county is focusing on vaccinating students before the fall semester and only 56.5% of residents aged 16 to 29 have received their first dose.
He encourages unvaccinated residents to talk to their doctors, nurses, friends or family members who have received the vaccine, as almost all new infections and deaths occur in people who have not been vaccinated.
Less than 1% of vaccinated residents contracted the virus in Michigan. Nearly 84% of people hospitalized with the virus from March 11 to May 15 were not vaccinated, according to the state health department.
Coulter touted the county’s initiative to offer $ 50 prepaid gift cards to residents as an incentive to get vaccinated; however, now that the goal has been met, it will no longer be offered.
As of Friday, more than 1,100 gift cards were distributed.
Residents who received their first dose between June 24 and July 23 are eligible to apply for the gift card at www.OaklandCountyVaccine.com. Those without internet access can call (800) 848-5533. All applications must be submitted by August 6.
Vaccines administered
As of Friday, the state had administered 9.6 million of the 11.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine distributed. Almost 4.83 million people in the state are fully vaccinated.
At the same time, nearly 63% of Michigan residents over the age of 16 had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. As children aged 12 to 15 in the state became eligible for the Pfizer vaccine in May, the population increase reduced the percentage of the population vaccinated to about 57.5%.
The state’s fully immunized population includes 75% of all people aged 65 and over, 62% of those aged 50 to 64; 50% of people aged 40 to 49; 46% of people aged 30 to 39; 36% of people aged 20 to 29; and 36% of people aged 16 to 19.
Some counties are approaching 70% of their eligible residents with at least one dose administered, including:
– Washtenaw County – 69% of its 323,860 inhabitants
– Emmet County – 68.6% of its 29,500 inhabitants
– Grand Traverse County – 68.5% of its 81,100 inhabitants
– Kent County – 63.3% of its 552,700 inhabitants
– Kalamazoo County – 62.2% of its 227,274 inhabitants
Wayne County, the most populous in the state, lags behind Oakland with 65% of its residents 16 and over with a dose, excluding Detroit. The hard-hit city has fallen behind on vaccinations as less than 40% of adults have received a dose.
Areas with less than 45% of residents vaccinated include:
– Detroit – 39.8% of its 556,400 inhabitants
– Hillsdale County – 39.3% of its 39,316 inhabitants
– Cass County – 37% of its 45,000 inhabitants
– Osceola County – 42.4% of its 20,300 inhabitants
– Mecosta County – 42.5% of its 38,300 inhabitants
– Branch County – 43% of its 37,000 inhabitants
– Montcalm County – 43.4% of its 54,800 inhabitants
– County of Luce – 44% of its 5,569 inhabitants
– County of Sanilac – 44.3% of its 35,600 inhabitants
– Monroe County – 44.8% of its 130,400 inhabitants
Statewide positivity has increased over the past three weeks and is 3.1% – up from 2% last week. Michigan hospitalizations are also up 13% from last week.
Earlier this month, Whitmer unveiled a $ 5 million initiative offering college scholarships and cash prizes to Michigan residents who have received their COVID-19 vaccine, saying the program will save and change lives. So far, more than five winners have been chosen, including a resident of Grand Blanc who won $ 1 million for being vaccinated.
Twitter: @SarahRahal_
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