All new cases of COVID-19 found in unvaccinated residents

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The recent cases of COVID-19 that have been confirmed in Jefferson County have all been found in people who have not been vaccinated for the disease, said Jefferson County Public Health Officer Dr. Tom Locke.

Locke also noted that most of the deaths to coronavirus in the United States have been linked to unvaccinated people.

In his weekly pandemic update to Jefferson County commissioners, Locke said the county’s infection rate for COVID-19 has gone up slightly in the past two weeks.

“We’ve had 15 cases in the last two weeks,” Locke told commissioners Monday.

Meanwhile, the rate of vaccinations has slowed statewide.

In Jefferson County, 65 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, and 67.8 percent have had at least one dose of the vaccine.

The number of vaccinations for the eligible population for shots — those 12 and older — is at 70 percent in Jefferson County, he said.

Still, it’s not high enough given the new variants of COVID-19, he said. 

“It’s not where we really need to be to control the variants,” Locke said, adding that a vaccination rate of 80 to 85 percent is needed to control transmission.

“We knew very early on we were in a race with the variants,” he added. “That is what is coming to pass.”

Health officials are trying to get the word out on the good news, bad news split the pandemic is taking. 

“For those who are vaccinated, it’s almost all good news,” Locke said, noting their return to pre-pandemic levels of public activity with no negative consequences.

“For those who are unvaccinated the pandemic is going on unabated and is likely going to get worse as the more transmissible variants predominate,” he added.

“We’re trying to get that warning out there,” Locke said.

Jefferson County public health officials reported 465 total COVID-19 infections Monday.

That was up by five from the number reported July 8.

A dozen residents were still in isolation Monday due to potential COVID-19 contact.

Test results are pending for another 21 residents.

There have been 26,061 tests for COVID-19 in Jefferson County since the start of the pandemic, and 25,575 have resulted negative.

In Jefferson County, 438 people have recovered from COVID-19 and 34 people have been hospitalized for the disease. Four deaths of Jefferson County residents have been linked to COVID-19.

Locke said Monday that two residents remain hospitalized due to COVID-19, and one is in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

None of the new cases reported in the past two weeks have led to hospitalizations, Locke said.

The cases were found in clusters of unvaccinated people.

Five of them were in one household, Locke said, and every single person in the household tested positive for COVID-19.

According to statistics from the county health department, most of those who have tested positive for the coronavirus live in the mid-county area.

There have been 195 cases of COVID-19 in Port Townsend; 213 cases in mid-county; 41 in south county; and 16 on the West End.

By gender, 218 females have tested positive for COVID, and 247 males have had positive test results.

By age, most confirmed cases — 91 in all — have involved residents under the age of 20.

The age group of 60-69 is the second leading category of positive tests, according to age. A total of 78 people in that category have tested positive.

A total of 259 people under the age of 50 have tested positive for COVID-19 in Jefferson County, while 206 residents 50 and older have tested positive.