Worcester County trailing state, nation in vaccination rates
Photo | Courtesy | Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Worcester County trails most other Massachusetts, along with statewide and nationwide averages, in vaccination rates.
Nearly one in seven Worcester County residents have been vaccinated against COVID-19. But that rate lags state and national averages.
When looking at the total population, those over 18 and those over 65, a Washington Post analysis found Worcester County trails in all three categories against both the rest of Massachusetts and the rest of the country.
[Related: Worcester nonprofits work to educate their skeptical populations on the COVID vaccine]
In Worcester County, 13.8% of the population was fully vaccinated through March 27, meaning they've received both necessary doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, or Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine. That compares to 16.9% statewide and 14.7% nationwide. The Post's analysis excluded some states if they didn't have county locations for those vaccinated available in enough cases.
As for the highest-risk age population, 40.4% of Worcester County residents 65 and older have been fully vaccinated, compared to 47.9% across Massachusetts and 45.9% across the United States.
[Related: Mass. vaccine rollout fraught with challenges of misinformation, distrust]
County-by-county vaccine counts reported weekly by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health show Worcester County worse than all but two of the state's 14 counties. All but Bristol County, which includes Fall River and New Bedford, and Hampden County, which includes Springfield, are worse.
Worcester County's lagging vaccination rates come as coronavirus case numbers have risen in the past few weeks in Worcester, across Massachusetts and nationally, particularly across much of the Northeast.
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