Vaccination rate rising in El Paso County as Delta variant surges
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- Vaccination rates in under-vaccinated El Paso County are slowing climbing, amid concerns about the spreading of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
"It's definitely risen, but I wouldn't call it a huge shift," said Dr. Stephen Goodwin, El Paso County Public Health Chief Data Scientific Strategist. "The trend is upward, which is great. We're very thankful for that. Just as nationally we're seeing a trend of people becoming more interested in being vaccinated, we're not sure why that is. It could be related to the Delta variant, but we're definitely seeing an uptick in interest."
62.6 percent of El Paso County residents have had at least one dose, compared to 59.7 percent back on July 7. Those figures include vaccinations given out by federal agencies to people living and working in Colorado.
The most recent statistics for hospitalizations in EL Paso County show an average of 6.07 COVID-19 related admissions per day over the last 30 days. But Dr. Goodwin believes that with the Delta variant taking over, combined with a below-state average vaccination rate, those hospitalization rates are going to increase.
"We've had a pretty steady rate of hospitalization increase over the last several weeks, which of course we never like to see," he says. "I think the rate that's fully vaccinated is going to be the major predictor for the disease for people going into the hospitals. Our hospitals have seen a pretty steady increase since you know, we were down earlier."
