COLUMBUS, Ind. — More than half of eligible Bartholomew County residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, reaching a milestone in the effort to combat a virus that has killed at least 157 residents since April 2020.
Currently, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is authorized for use starting at age 12, making a total of 70,530 of Bartholomew County’s estimated 83,779 residents eligible for the vaccine, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
As of Thursday morning, 51% of eligible Bartholomew County residents were fully vaccinated, which is higher than all neighboring counties, including Jackson County, where 42.9% of eligible residents were fully vaccinated, and Jennings County, where just 33.2% were fully vaccinated.
However, most infectious disease have estimated that at least 70% to 80%, perhaps more, of the total population will need to be fully vaccinated to reach herd immunity — the threshold experts believe is needed to stop uncontrolled spread of COVID-19.
Nearly 43% of Bartholomew County’s total population was fully vaccinated as of Thursday, according to state records.
Local health officials, for their part, have said they remain hopeful that more people will decide to get vaccinated.
“I’m hoping that is more people see the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, that our rates will increase,” said Dr. Brian Niedbalski, Bartholomew County health officer, in an earlier interview.
Overall, in Columbus and the surrounding area — Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings Counties — 76,996 out of 167,106 eligible people had received their first shot as of Thursday morning, or about 46%.
For the complete story, see Saturday’s Republic.
