About 60% of Allegheny County residents over the age of 10 are fully vaccinated against covid-19, health director Dr. Debra Bogen said Wednesday, and case counts, deaths and hospitalizations have remained low.
The numbers represent an effort by the state to weed out some instances of double counting and miscounting of second shots as first doses, she said. The resulting stats are 66% partially vaccinated and 60% fully vaccinated.
“What it means to me is we still have work to do to get people vaccinated in the county,” Bogen said.
She said she doesn’t believe vaccine access is the main issue anymore, but rather vaccine hesitancy – particularly among young people.
“We have answers and data to address all of the questions and concerns,” she said, noting unfounded concerns about long-term effects and infertility.
She said the risks posed by covid-19 are far greater than the “tiny risks” associated with vaccines. She noted that 10% of people who contract covid, including young, otherwise healthy people, will have long-haul symptoms that last for months.
“We are a country with deep held individual rights beliefs, but given we are in a worldwide pandemic, I ask us all to consider how our individual decisions impact those around us,” Bogen said.
She said of the 163 covid-related deaths from April to June, 93% were people who were either unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated. New cases, she said, are not coming from any one source more than another, and they continue to come from mass gatherings like weddings, funerals and parties.
Regarding the delta variant, there have been nine documented cases in Allegheny County since March, Bogen said. She noted the county has not seen the variant-driven spikes in infection rates that other parts of the country have.
The health department on Wednesday reported 55 new cases over the previous two days – 39 confirmed cases and 16 probable cases. The county has not recorded a covid-related death since July 2
