NEW RIVER VALLEY, Va. – While Virginia as a whole reached President Joe Biden’s Fourth of July goal of getting 70% of American adults partially vaccinated, virtually all of the communities in our region will not reach that target.
On Monday, health officials reported that the New River Valley has just 46% of its adult population partially vaccinated.
“It doesn’t mean we are going to stop after July 4th because we didn’t make any specific target,” said New River Health District Director Dr. Noelle Bissell said.
Bissell said the problem is that those younger than 30 are lagging on getting their dose.
| County/City | % Overall Population with at least 1 dose | % Adult Population with at least 1 dose |
|---|---|---|
| Floyd County | 42.9% | 51.3% |
| Giles County | 46.1% | 56.2% |
| Montgomery County | 47.9% | 53.6% |
| Pulaski County | 45.0% | 52.6% |
| Radford | 43.0% | 47.5% |
This is key for places like Radford, which currently has the smallest amount of adults partially vaccinated in the New River Valley at just 47.5%.
Though young adults are at less of a risk, Bissell said they are not immune from catching the virus.
“I mean we do have young otherwise healthy people who have gotten sick with COVID and have gotten very sick and have died,” she said.
Therefore, they continue to host clinics at swimming pools and summer events to make it accessible.
Also, Bissell said every year they host an immunization clinic to get international students up to date on their shots.
She plans to add the coronavirus vaccine in the fall clinic now that Virginia Tech made the vaccine a requirement.
Bissell said most of the coronavirus cases and hospitalizations they are seeing are unvaccinated patients.
A concern as the Delta variant continues to make its way around the globe and is now here in Southwest Virginia.
Though it has not popped up in the New River Valley yet, Bissell said it’s only a matter of time as it is expected to become the dominant strain.
The variant is doubling every two weeks which makes vaccinations even more important in an effort to limit the spread.
“It’s really important for people to go ahead and finish and get vaccinated if they’ve gotten a first dose to go ahead and get their second dose,” she said. “If they have had Johnson and Johnson it does look like it’s very protective as well.”