Vexing Vax Rate: How Many Chester County Residents Have Skipped the Shots?

Image via Penn State Health, Creative Commons.

Attempts to get as many people as possible vaccinated have intensified as the Delta variant continues to spread. Julie Bosman, Jan Hoffman, Margot Sanger-Katz, and Tim Arango look at Chester County’s current vax rate for The New York Times.

The latest data show that 46 percent of residents are not fully vaccinated. While this finding puts Chester County among the counties nationwide with a lower share of unvaccinated people, there is still a ways to go.

The data suggest two groups of people who have not been vaccinated.

One group is adamant in its refusal to get the vaccine. It comprises residents who are disproportionately white, rural, evangelical Christian, and politically conservative.

The second cluster comprises people open to getting a vaccine but have postponed it. These wait-and-see unvaccinated residents are more diverse and urban. They include many young people, people of color, and Democrats.

In surrounding counties, Montgomery County has the same percentage of not fully vaccinated residents. Bucks and Delaware counties are slightly lower at 44 and 42 percent, respectively.

The week ending July 30 was the third consecutive week that the number of COVID-19 cases has increased in Chester County.

Read more about the unvaccinated in The New York Times.

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