CDC: Nearly 100% of Pa. residents over 65 partially vaccinated

By staff and wire reports

Nearly every Pennsylvanian 65 and older is now at least partially vaccinated for COVID-19, according to the latest COVID vaccination data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Wednesday morning, the CDC’s COVID vaccine tracker shows 2,393,193 of the state’s 65 and older population have at least one dose. With the U.S. Census Bureau’s estimation (using 2019 figures) that 18.7% of Pennsylvania’s 12.8 million residents are 65 and older (2,393,600), the math comes out to mean that 99.98% are partially vaccinated. The CDC’s tracker page rounds that figure up to show it as 100%.
Only Vermont and Hawaii, with 99.9% and 99.2% respectively, are shown to have as much of its 65+ population with at least one shot. West Virginia, with 75.1%, is the state with the lowest percentage.
The state’s vaccination dashboard differs from the CDC claim, showing just 2,093,722 people 65 and older as having at least one dose, which comes to 87.5%. However, the state’s dashboard does not include figures from Philadelphia, which tracks its own vaccination numbers.
The reasons for Pennsylvania’s nearly 100% mark among the 65+ set per the CDC could be a result of the use of 2019 figures, which could be undercounting the number of residents. Also, not everyone replies to the U.S. Census, which then can skew percentages when real-time calculations are implemented.
Nearly all of Allegheny County’s senior citizens are also at least partially vaccinated, including those in care facilities, officials say.
“These vaccines really work,” Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said Tuesday. “They’re what we really need to overcome this virus.”
According to Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC’s chief medical officer, the “vast majority” of those admitted to UPMC hospitals for COVID-19 are either unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated.
There are instances of fully vaccinated people who are hospitalized for the virus, but Yealy called those breakthrough cases. “We knew that would happen,” Yealy said. “It doesn’t mean it’s a failure of vaccines in general. That can happen for a lot of different reasons.”
When it comes to those 18 and older having at least one dose, Pennsylvania ranks 8th among all U.S. states at 73.7%. Vermont’s 83.8% ranks the highest and Mississippi’s 45.1% ranks the lowest.

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