The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that a southern Arizona county has reached 99.9 percent vaccination of its eligible population, apparently the first county in America to reach that benchmark since the COVID-19 vaccine became available earlier this year.
Santa Cruz County, which includes the city of Nogales, is almost completely vaccinated, though the county’s heath and human services (HHS) director says the numbers may be a bit inflated.
Jeff Terrell thinks the actual percentage is somewhere around 90 percent and thinks the reporting is a bit off because it includes some who work, but do not reside in the county.
Still, he said the county worked hard to coordinate its vaccination efforts.
“Our philosophy was if you live or work in Santa Cruz County, we would want to get you vaccinated because you are participating and you’re a member of our community,” he reportedly said.
He continued:
You’re going to have that vaccine hesitancy no matter where you’re at, no matter what county. But down here, I think people were more inclined to get it because I think they wanted to really get back to somewhat of a normal life and be able to see their grandkids, be able to see family and go out to the store and not worry about it as much.
Several surrounding counties also have full vaccination rates of more than 60 percent, outpacing the national average by about five percentage points.
Other areas around the country are creeping up on full vaccination.
In Marin County, California, 97 percent of residents are reportedly fully vaccinated. That is just a bit higher than another county in the Bay Area, San Mateo County, where nearly 94 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
As reported Thursday, there are six towns in Indiana that now have a vaccination rate of higher than 90 percent.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
