Luzerne County nears halfway mark for full vaccinations

Luzerne County is now around the halfway mark in COVID-19 vaccinations, according to analysis of state data posted Tuesday.

In total, 129,102 county residents were fully vaccinated on Tuesday.

That equates to at least 45.5% of 283,657 eligible county residents.

Those 12 and older are able to be vaccinated. The state health department uses a count of residents 10 and older for the total eligible because it does not have a breakdown of those 12 and older.

To date, county residents ages 70 to 74 have the highest vaccination rate — 76.3%.

Younger residents are less likely to receive a vaccine, the state health data shows.

The percentage of county residents fully vaccinated by age group:

• Under 15: zero because the two-dose vaccine was only approved for this age group less than a month ago

• 15-19: 17.3%

• 20-24: 27.2%

• 25-29: 26.3%

• 30-34: 32.4%

• 35-39: 38.6%

• 40-44: 44.1%

• 45-49: 43.4%

• 50-54: 49.2%

• 55-59: 55.3%

• 60-64: 64.2%

• 65-69: 72.5%

After peaking in the 70-74 age group, the rate decreases but still exceeds vaccinations for those below 60. Those percentages: 75-79, 71.5%; 80-84, 69.7%; and 85-plus, 59.5%.

‘Personal choice’

County Emergency Management Agency Director Lucy Morgan said those numbers should be increasing because hundreds of residents are currently receiving their second doses through a mass vaccination clinic at the Mohegan Sun Pocono Casino in Plains Township and vaccination programs at senior high-rise facilities and for the homebound.

While the casino clinic is now administering second doses of Moderna to past participants, a supply of single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines is available for residents at the casino hotel from 2 to 8 p.m. today (June 2), with no appointment or advance registration required, Morgan said.

A variety of vaccination options continue to be available throughout the county for those interested, Morgan said.

“It’s their personal choice,” Morgan said.

Among the other options: Walk-in COVID-19 vaccines will be available Friday at the Geisinger CenterPoint Vaccine Center in Jenkins Township from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The center will have Pfizer vaccine available to those 12 and older.

Dr. Stanley Martin, director of infectious diseases at Geisinger, urges residents to consider vaccination.

“Although the percentage of fully vaccinated people in our community is improving, we continue to encourage everyone age 12 and up to get vaccinated against COVID-19,” Martin said Tuesday.

Martin said vaccines help both the recipient and others.

“Vaccinating our community gives us the best chance to help life return to normal and prevent potentially highly contagious variants from developing,” Martin said. “We know the vaccines are safe and effective at preventing not only COVID-19 infection but also serious illness and hospitalization.”

County Manager C. David Pedri expects the county’s numbers will rise as more parents embrace vaccines for their children. He also believes the resuming of concerts and other mass gatherings will be an incentive for some to get vaccinated. Talking to others after vaccination also helps, he said.

“I believe some people were kind of concerned and using their neighbors and friends as ‘guinea pigs’ to get vaccinated first,” Pedri said.

Comparing stats

Neighboring Lackawanna County already has surpassed the halfway mark, with 54.6% of eligible residents fully vaccinated, the state data shows.

It has 102,007 fully vaccinated residents and an eligible population of 186,666.

From high to low, here are the vaccination percentages for the other counties surrounding Luzerne based on state data, with the number fully vaccinated and the eligible population in parenthesis:

• Carbon: 45.6% (26,395 of 57,866 eligible residents vaccinated)

• Columbia: 45% (26,585 of 59,063)

• Schuylkill: 43.7% (55,494 of 127,014)

• Wyoming: 43% (10,359 of 24,116)

• Monroe: 37.9% (58,369 of 153,895)

• Sullivan: 34.7% (1,989 of 5,737)

Maps and tables of vaccination data for each county are posted at www.health.pa.gov.

The posted information also includes gender.

In Luzerne County, 48.1% of females are fully vaccinated to date, compared to 39.9% of males. That same situation bears out at the state level, with 42.6% of females and 35.7% of males vaccinated.