Delaware focuses on boosters one year later

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At this time last December, the state was in the beginning of its rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Distribution was slow at first, as supply was limited and public health officials decided on a phased approach. First up were frontline health care workers, residents of long-term care facilities and those 65 years old or older. Next were essential workers, those with high-risk medical conditions and individuals above the age of 50.

All Delawareans 16 years old and older became eligible on April 6 while those 12 and up began receiving only the Pfizer vaccine on May 11. Finally, those between the ages of 5 and 11 were declared eligible after Pfizer’s youth vaccine was approved on Nov. 3 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There have been 1,507,964 doses of vaccine administered in Delaware as of Sunday at 11:59 p.m., according to information on the Delaware Division of Public Health.

And as the state prepares for another winter surge of the virus, the focus has shifted toward booster doses in an effort to prevent Delaware hospitals from becoming overwhelmed thanks to the threats from the delta and omicron variants.

DPH reported 420 COVID-19 hospitalizations over the weekend, the first time hospitalizations were above 400 since Jan. 22. There are now 365 hospitalized with the virus, according to DPH’s update on Monday.

Seventy-one percent of Delaware’s new hospital admissions for COVID-19 were not fully vaccinated the week of Dec. 6-12 — the most recent available dataset. For the same time period, 72% of new positive cases were also not fully vaccinated, per DPH statistics.

“The COVID-19 vaccine has saved numerous lives and hospitalizations,” said Dr. Bill Chasanov, chief population health officer at Beebe Healthcare. “This past year, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic has meant another difficult year for health care workers and our community. As COVID-19 hospitalizations again continue to rise, we are seeing increased stress to all healthcare systems in the country.

“When I look back on the last year, I am thankful for the ongoing scientific studies and data that help support the prevention and treatment for the COVID-19 virus.”

Delaware has recorded 8,971 breakthrough cases, a positive test after being fully vaccinated for two weeks or more, as of Friday, which represents 1.6% of the 562,115 fully vaccinated Delawareans. There have been 142 breakthrough hospitalizations, according to DPH, and 111 breakthrough COVID-19-related deaths.

Nearly 90% of Delaware adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines, according to CDC data, which has 87.7% (675,787 adults) with at least one dose. This data includes Delawareans vaccinated in other states and vaccinations done at Veterans Affairs offices and Dover Air Force Base which do not report their data to DPH.

There have been 620,386 individuals fully vaccinated in Delaware, which includes non-Delawareans who are eligible to receive the vaccine because they either work in the First State or receive their health care here. Of those fully vaccinated, 205,886 have received a booster dose, according to DPH’s vaccine tracker.

A majority of the booster doses have gone to seniors, with the 65-and-up age demographic receiving 101,085 doses, which represents 58% of seniors. Meanwhile, 27.5% of 50- to 64-year-olds, 15.4% of 35- to 49-year-olds and 7.1% of 18- to 34-year-olds have also received boosters.

The northern part of the state and Eastern Sussex County have posted the highest vaccination rates while Western Sussex County and rural Kent County have recorded the lowest.

Lewes (82%) is the only ZIP code with more than 80% of its residents fully vaccinated. The 19971 ZIP code of Rehoboth/Dewey Beach is next at 79.8%, followed by Wilmington’s 19807 ZIP code at 76.8%, Hockessin at 75% and Milton at 73.6%.

Delmar has the lowest vaccination rate at 33.9%. It also recorded the highest percent-positive rate for the week of Dec. 11-17 with 17.8% of its tests coming back positive.

Other ZIP codes below the 40% mark include Hartly (38.7%), Ellendale (38.7%) and Greenwood (39.6%) while Laurel is just above 40% at 40.3%.

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