Children 12-15 lead the way in COVID-19 vaccination in Vanderburgh County – Courier & Press

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. Vaccination against COVID-19 continues to slow down locally, with Vanderburgh County's seven-day average of total daily doses continuing to sink but children ages 12-15 are leading all local age groups.

The county's seven-day average of total daily doses was 514 as of Tuesday, the most recent day for which data is available. That is at least not as low as the moving average of 507 posted on Friday, but it represents a steady decline since the number reached 1,076 on May 4.

The Indiana State Department of Health defines the seven-day average of total daily doses as "the moving average (6 previous days and 1 current day) of all doses administered. The number can be found on ISDH'sCOVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard.

Children 12-15 became eligible for the Pfizer vaccine on Thursday,after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a federal committee recommended vaccine use for the age group.Anyone under 18 needs parental consent to be vaccinated. The consent form can be completed online atourshot.in.gov.

Since then, according to ISDH's Indiana Data Hub, 625 children ages 12-15 in Vanderburgh County have received first doses. Fifty-eightreceived a first dose in the previous 24 hours, which is more than twice as large as the next-largest age group posting. Teenagers 16-19 received 22 first doses.

Local health and medical officials have hoped a weeks-long slowdown in vaccination can be arrested by the eligibility of 12-15-year-oldsand by the launchingof a flurry of pop-up clinics for whichthe Vanderburgh County Health Department will takeaMetropolitan Evansville Transit System (METS) bus to neighborhoods.

But so far, it hasn't happened.

Tuesday's most-recent seven-day average of total daily doses,514, is less than a third of the1,548 posted as recently asApril 12.

Vanderburgh County's daily count of newly vaccinated residents was 218on Wednesday, bringing the county's total to 71,736.

The countyreported 11new confirmed coronavirus cases Wednesday, making 22,387in all during the pandemic.No new deaths attributable to COVID-19 were reportedin Vanderburgh, Warrick, Gibson or Posey counties.

Vanderburgh County's seven-day positivity rate for individuals clocked in at 6.2% Wednesday.

All the data can be found onIndiana State Department of Health'sstatewide dashboard of cases and the state agency'sCOVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard.

With Wednesday's numbers, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Posey and Gibson counties have now reported a total of 118,239fully vaccinated individuals. Statewide, the number is2,346,698.

Almost all of Vanderburgh County's 71,736fully vaccinated residents 69,591, or 97%got there by takingboth stages of the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. Just 2,145local residents have taken the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Statewide, 819new COVID-19 cases and 12new deaths were reported on Wednesday.The pandemic'stoll stands at 737,282cases and13,101deaths statewide.

Vanderburgh, Warrick, Posey and Gibson counties remainat a "blue" level advisory on the ISDH's color-coded state map of county-level advisories. ISDH updates the map every Wednesday.

The advisory level map is based on weekly COVID-19 case numbers per 100,000 residents. A "blue" advisory indicates there are less than 10 new cases per 100,000 residents, while a "yellow" advisory covers 10-99 new cases per 100,000 people.

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New positive cases: 819

Total positive cases:737,282

New deaths: 12

Total deaths:13,101

7-day positivity rate for unique individuals: 10.4%

Total who are fully vaccinated:2,346,698

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New positive cases: 11

Total positive cases:22,387

Total deaths: 397

7-day positivity rate for unique individuals: 6.2%

Total who are fully vaccinated:71,736

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New positive cases: 4

Positive cases: 7,805

Total deaths: 155

7-day positivity rate for unique individuals: 8.4%

Total who are fully vaccinated: 27,366

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New positive cases: 1

Positive cases:2,721

Total deaths: 34

7-day positivity rate for unique individuals: 11.6%

Total who are fully vaccinated: 8,608

New positive cases: 14

Positive cases: 4,391

Total deaths: 92

7-day positivity rate for unique individuals: 11.0%

Total who are fully vaccinated: 10,529

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Children 12-15 lead the way in COVID-19 vaccination in Vanderburgh County - Courier & Press