COVID vaccination initiation surpasses 50% in 2 Whatcom regions, but rates lag in 2 others
While COVID-19 vaccination rates in four of Whatcom County’s seven school district regions are now above 50%, the number of people starting vaccination continues to lag in two other regions.
Just over one in three people in the regions covered by the Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley school districts have initiated a vaccine, according to data released this week by the Whatcom County Health Department, while approximately two in five people have begun vaccination in the Lynden region.
Meanwhile, the Ferndale and Meridian regions both moved above 50% of residents starting vaccination, the health department reported, joining Bellingham and Blaine, which were already above that threshold. Ferndale saw a large bump in its vaccination rate, as the county health department is now able to report those who received vaccinations through the Lummi Nation.
The health department said it is working with the Nooksack Indian Tribe to report the number of vaccinations it has administered. Once reported, those numbers could impact the vaccination rates in the Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley regions.
Bellingham was the only region to see its COVID infection rate increase last week, according to the health department’s preliminary data, though it still was one of four regions in the county with fewer than 200 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks.
The county health department releases weekly data on the location of COVID-19 cases and vaccinations using school districts as geographical boundaries, including each region’s number of total cases during the pandemic, its two-week infection rate and how many residents in each area have initiated vaccination. Data in Wednesday’s report was through Saturday, June 5, and infection rates are based on data from May 23 to June 5.
With 791 new cases the past two weeks in the preliminary data, which may be adjusted for updated information, Whatcom County has an overall infection rate of 351.6 per 100,000 residents, based on 225,300 residents in the county. None of the county’s regions had infection rates higher than that mark, according to the county’s data.
Here is what the health department’s latest data for the seven regions in the county showed:
Bellingham: Up 1.6% (54 cases) since the June 2 report to 3,427 total cases, as the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days increased from 78 last week to 88 this week. Approximately 64.8% of all eligible residents in the region have initiated vaccination.
Blaine: Up 0.6% (four cases) since the June 2 report to 636 total cases, as the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 101 last week to 85 this week. Approximately 53.8% of all eligible residents in the region have initiated vaccination.
Ferndale: Up 0.9% (18 cases) since the June 2 report to 1,939 total cases, as the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 138 last week to 132 this week. Approximately 51.9% of all eligible residents in the region have initiated vaccination.
Lynden: Up 2.2% (36 cases) since the June 2 report to 1,680 total cases, as the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 367 last week to 348 this week. Approximately 41.2% of all eligible residents in the region have initiated vaccination.
Meridian: Up 2.3% (12 cases) since the June 2 report to 529 total cases, as the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 258 last week to 232 this week. Approximately 52.5% of all eligible residents in the region have initiated vaccination.
Mount Baker: Up 1.9% (10 cases) since the June 2 report to 547 total cases, as the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 224 last week to 199 this week. Approximately 36.6% of all eligible residents in the region have initiated vaccination.
Nooksack Valley: Up 1.2% (10 cases) since the June 2 report to 838 total cases, as the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days decreased from 261 last week to 235 this week. Approximately 35.2% of all eligible residents in the region have initiated vaccination.
