Much of this region lags behind state and national rates of residents vaccinated against COVID-19, which health officials say could prolong the pandemic still surging locally.
About 30.7% of all adult residents of 10 Northeast Tennessee counties have received at least one dose of vaccine against the novel coronavirus while about 21.5% of its residents are fully vaccinated, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
The region trails Tennessee’s statewide average of 32.7% but is slightly ahead of the state’s 21.2% of fully vaccinated residents. However, five of 10 counties reported that less than 20% of their residents have gotten the second dose of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, with Carter County at 17.7% and Johnson County at 17.8%.
Nationwide, 39.5% of all U.S. residents have received the first vaccine, and 25.4% are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The national goal is to have about 80% of the population fully vaccinated to create so-called “herd immunity” against the virus and its variants.
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With more than 930,000 residents across Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, that equates to getting more than more than 740,000 area residents vaccinated.
COVID-19 Vaccinations: Virginia
County/City | First | Fully |
---|---|---|
Bristol | 31.80% | 23.70% |
Buchanan | 33.80% | 26.00% |
Dickenson | 33.50% | 25.10% |
Lee | 26.40% | 19.20% |
Norton | 34.30% | 23.60% |
Russell | 36.90% | 27.90% |
Scott | 29.90% | 20.60% |
Smyth | 34.90% | 23.90% |
Tazewell | 30.30% | 22.40% |
Washington | 38.30% | 30.20% |
Wise | 31.40% | 21.90% |
Wythe | 28.50% | 17.30% |
SWVA | 32.80% | 23.90% |
Virginia | 39.90% | 25.00% |
COVID-19 Vaccinations: Tennessee
County/City | First | Fully |
---|---|---|
Carter | 25.40% | 17.70% |
Cocke | 32.80% | 22.60% |
Greene | 30.40% | 21.10% |
Hamblen | 25.70% | 17.60% |
Hancock | 22.80% | 18.30% |
Hawkins | 27.30% | 19.00% |
Johnson | 26.60% | 17.80% |
Sullivan | 34.00% | 25.30% |
Unicoi | 35.00% | 25.20% |
Washington | 38.50% | 26.90% |
NETN | 30.70% | 21.50% |
Tennessee | 32.70% | 21.20% |
Sullivan County, the region’s most populous county, ranked slightly above state averages but below national marks, with 34% of residents having received the first dose and 25.3% fully vaccinated. Washington County, Tennessee, reported that 38.5% of residents have received the first dose and 26.9% are fully vaccinated.
Vaccination rates are also lagging in most of the 10 counties and two cities of far Southwest Virginia, where 32.8% of residents have received at least one injection and 23.9% are fully vaccinated, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
Washington County, Virginia, reported the region’s highest rates with 38.3% having first doses and 30.2% fully vaccinated. Nine nearby Virginia localities reported at least 30% with first doses while two counties — Wythe and Lee — reported less than 20% fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile the virus continues to surge.
On Monday, Ballad Health reported 129 COVID-19 inpatients — the most for a single day since late January. Twenty-nine were being treated in intensive care units, and 17 were on ventilators. Additional COVID-positive patients were being treated at home through telehealth. That number was over 100 last week.
Sullivan County was adding an average of 42 new cases daily over the past two weeks, and its seven-day testing positivity average was 17.4% — among the highest in the state, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
Washington County, Tennessee, added nearly 40 new cases per day over the past two weeks, and its testing average was 16.2%. Combined, those two counties have more than 1,000 active cases of the 1,800 active cases across Northeast Tennessee.
Ballad Health officials last week voiced concern over this surge combined with apparent hesitancy to take the vaccine.
“We could be giving at least double the vaccine that we’re giving at our sites right now. As we continue to see that demand go down, it’s concerning,” Jamie Swift, Ballad’s chief infection prevention officer, said. “We’ve seen each time when the states were going through their age ranges, the first week after the new phase was announced, there was a quick uptake by people who were waiting. But now we’re seeing those people have been vaccinated. We’ve got to reach the people who either have questions or, more than likely, don’t feel the urgency.”
On Monday, the Sullivan County Regional Health Department announced plans to close its vaccination center at the Kingsport Civic Auditorium but continue offering shots at Whitetop Creek
Park in Bristol, Tennessee.
“Our contract with the Civic Auditorium is up after April 21 and there are other events scheduled there after that date,” spokeswoman Rachel Dean said in an email. “We will still be vaccinating at Whitetop Creek Park and there are several community partners in Kingsport who have vaccine available for the community.”
Tennessee ranked 48th Monday among all U.S. states in percentage of population fully vaccinated, according to Becker’s Hospital Review, a website that compiles data from the CDC and other sources. Virginia ranked 23rd, with 25% of its population fully vaccinated, which also trails the national rate.
Seven states reported having more than 30% of its residents fully vaccinated.
“The longer we prolong vaccinations, the longer this pandemic goes on,” Swift said. “If we’re still hovering at 30% to 50% coverage instead of 70% to 80% [for rest of U.S.], it’s going to take us longer [to emerge]. So many people want this to be over, and they want to go back to normal. The one thing I can tell them will get us there is this vaccine.”