PA Nears 100 Percent Of Residents With At Least 1 COVID Shot

PENNSYLVANIA — Leaders in Pennsylvania cited a milestone on Thursday, as the state has seen 95 percent of its adult population receive at least one dose of the COVID-19 shot. The update comes as the state and much of the wider region has seen a drastic decrease in both cases and hospitalizations from the winter rise of the omicron variant.

Gov. Tom Wolf said that vaccinations were crucial in helping limit the damage and get numbers under control.

“The uplifting reality is that most people are doing what they can to protect their health,” the governor said in a statement.“I would like to thank Pennsylvanians who have been vaccinated, not just for themselves but for the people around them. We know that vaccines are safe and effective and our best defense against COVID-19.”

The rate is higher than the national rate of 88 percent that have at least one dose, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics.

Breakthrough cases, or cases where individuals with the vaccine tested positive for the virus, increased 22 percent statewide from January into February. However, officials said that severe illness was significantly less likely with the vaccine. And while the omicron variant has had much more success evading the vaccine than previous variants, the vaccine still offered significant protection. The numbers were dramatic in certain categories. Unvaccinated adults between the ages of 50 and 64 were 45 times more likely to be hospitalized, and those 65 and over were 51 times more likely to be hospitalized.

The state made the announcement nearly two years after the pandemic began and about a year after the vaccine first became widely available to the general public.

Counting the entire population, including children, the state has a 72.6 percent vaccination rate of at least one dose. Meanwhile, 61.9 percent of all residents have been fully vaccinate.

All told, the state has administered 28,685,125 COVID-19 vaccines.