Credit: PA Internet News Service
The Bucks County Health Department will be increasing efforts to get people fully vaccinated.
With 65 percent of Bucks County adults fully vaccinated, according to federal data, the county is working to reach the more than 59,000 residents who are partially vaccinated and are eligible for a second dose.
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Using emails, text messages, and phone calls, Bucks County officials will be working to determine if the vaccination information on those more than 59,000 people is accurate. If they didn’t get a second dose, officials plan to encourage them to get their second dose.
Health experts have found the three approved COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. The two-dose shots are available for anyone age 12 and older.
Dr. David Damsker, the director of the county health department, pointed to research that getting both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines is key.
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“Getting a second dose has been shown to be highly successful against all strains of COVID,” Damsker said. “If you’ve only gotten one shot of Pfizer or Moderna, it’s never too late to finish the series. It’s possible the extra time could even make the second dose more effective.”
While Pennsylvania ranks among the top in the country with getting first doses administered, it lags in getting second doses in arms. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicated last week that 76 percent of adults in the Keystone State had received first doses of vaccine, but only 60 percent were fully vaccinated.
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Bucks County has seen 79 percent of adults get the first dose.
“We still need to bring them back and get them vaccinated,” Bucks County Chief Operating Officer Margaret McKevitt said in a statement. “COVID’s not over yet; we still have vaccinations to do.”
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden’s administration announced they would be fostering efforts to increase vaccination rates and mobilize door-to-door campaigns to spread information about inoculation efforts in high-risk areas.
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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said last week that the federal government will work in a “collaborative way with the communities” to focus on communities wither lower vaccination rates.
Health care providers and the Bucks County Health Department continue to offer free COVID-19 vaccines. The county’s federally-funded mass vaccination clinics have closed at the Bucks County Community College campuses in Bristol Township, Newtown Township, and just outside of Perkasie Borough, but it continues to operate clinics at the Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem Township and at the Warwick Square shopping center in Warwick Township from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
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While the two remaining county sites were administering 3,000 doses per day in April and May, under 100 shots per day were being given recently.
The county is running pop-up vaccination clinics across the area to get more shots in arms.
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For more information on getting vaccinated, the county runs an information page.
McKevitt said she believes the number of vaccinations administered will increase as students return to schools, colleges, and universities for the fall.
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While Bucks County’s COVID-19 infection and hospitalization rates remains low, nearly all of those who have been treated in the hospital were unvaccinated. As of the end of last week, no deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported in Bucks County this month.
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