Bucks County has exceeded President Joe Biden’s goal of having at least 70 percent of adults partially or fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by July 4, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.
Almost 78 percent of Bucks County residents ages 18 and above have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 63 percent of adult county residents have been fully vaccinated, the CDC reported.
Statewide, more than 75 percent of adult Pennsylvanians have been partially or fully vaccinated.
Both figures exceed a goal announced by Biden last month to vaccinate 70 percent of American adults with at least one dose of vaccine by July 4. While it appears the nation collectively will fall short – the national percentage is 67 percent – Pennsylvania is among 18 states to have already reached the goal.
Last week also marked the first time since the pandemic began that no deaths were reported among people infected with COVID in Bucks County. The pandemic death toll remains at 1,326, including 17 this month.
The already-low incidence of new cases in Bucks fell even more, with the seven-day average of new cases dropping to six per day. Just 33 new infections were reported in Bucks last week, the fewest since the outset of the pandemic.
Hospitalizations remained in single digits, with nine COVID patients in Bucks County hospitals, one of whom is on a ventilator.
Bucks County Health Department Director David Damsker said the COVID vaccine continues to prove itself effective in preventing serious cases and deaths. The health department, he said, is aware of no vaccinated person in the county who has died from the virus, nor of any vaccinated person placed on a ventilator here.
The county’s four mass vaccination sites remain open this week 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Saturday, July 3, when sites at the Perkasie and Newtown campuses of Bucks County Community College will close. Clinics at Neshaminy Mall and the Warwick Square shopping center will continue on a reduced schedule – from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays – when the county reopens July 6 after the holiday weekend.
Shots are available at all sites without appointments required. All locations offer both the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the two-dose Pfizer vaccine.
Media contact: Larry King, 215-348-6413, lrking@buckscounty.org