Pennsylvania inches near Gov. Wolf's 70% vaccination target for lifting mask mandate

Gov. Tom Wolf’s goal of having 70% of adult Pennsylvanians fully vaccinated against covid-19 may well be within reach in a month’s time.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pennsylvania is just a half a percentage point shy of hitting 70% of adults with at least one dose of a covid vaccine — that’s 7,060,291 adults 18 and older.

If everyone who currently has just one dose — 1,789,239 — returns for their second shot, then 69.5% will be fully covered. Those people are all scheduled to receive their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines by at least the last week of June. Wolf has stated the state’s mask mandate would be lifted when we hit 70% full vaccination.

With covid case numbers dropping rapidly and hospitals seeing far fewer virus patients, the vaccination data has taken center stage in the state and country.

Vaccinations

The CDC reports 51.9% (5,271,052) of adult Pennsylvanians are considered fully vaccinated. When looking at total population in Pennsylvania, 56.7% (7,257,639) have at least one dose, and 41.6% (5,326,245) are considered fully vaccinated.

In Allegheny County, 43.5% (532,333) of all residents are fully vaccinated, and 59.9% (732,574) have at least one dose.

In Westmoreland County, 36.2% (132,351) of all residents are considered fully vaccinated, with 46% (167,978) having at least one dose.

Forest and Montour counties continue to have the highest levels of full vaccination in the state, each with nearly 54% of its total population having both doses. Chester County has the highest portion of residents with at least one dose (65.4%), followed by Montour (60.5%).

At just 18.45%, Potter County is the least fully vaccinated area in the state. When it comes to counties with at least one dose, Fulton’s 22.5% is the state’s lowest.

Cases

Pennsylvania’s latest two-day report, released Monday by the Department of Health, showed the fewest number of new covid cases — 1,549 — since Sept. 22 (1,068).

Health officials issued reports of 856 new cases Sunday and 693 new ones Monday — the first time the state has posted back-to-back sub-1,000 case days since late September, before the major fall surge began.

It’s now the third straight day the state has seen fewer than 10,000 cases in a seven-day span.

In an example of how fast new case counts are dropping, on April 18 — 37 days ago — the state’s seven-day case count eclipsed 35,000. It’s now down to 9,447.

Of the state’s latest cases, 1,118 were confirmed through PCR testing and 361 were listed as probable cases. Health officials define a probable case as one in which a patient has a positive viral antigen test or covid symptoms with a “high-risk exposure” to someone who has been confirmed to have coronavirus.

The Allegheny County Health Department on Monday reported 123 new cases over the past two days. That marks the county’s lowest two-day report since Oct. 7 (120). The latest figures bring the county’s seven-day case average down to 103, the lowest it’s been since mid-October.

Of the latest cases, 82 were confirmed and 41 were listed as probable. New cases ranged in age from 6 months to 96, with a median age of 31.

The age breakdown of the new cases in Allegheny County — 64 female, 59 male — was:Ages 0-4: 5

Ages 5-12: 11

Ages 13-18: 15

Ages 19-24: 19

Ages 25-49: 43

Ages 50-64: 15

Ages 65 and older: 15

Westmoreland County was among the few places in the state to see a case increase. On Monday, the county saw 55 new cases over the past two days, higher than last week’s two-day report of 31. However, the county’s seven-day average (45) ticked up just one from last Monday.

Among the county’s latest cases, 18 were confirmed and 37 were listed as probable.

In the state, Philadelphia saw the highest number of new cases (142), followed by Allegheny (123), Lancaster (80), Montgomery (72) and Berks (71).

Other Western Pennsylvania counties reporting new cases over the past two days: Washington (39), Fayette (28), Butler (23), Beaver (19), Indiana (13), Lawrence (13), Somerset (12), Greene (6) and Armstrong (5).

To date, there have been 1,196,562 cases of coronavirus in Pennsylvania, with 1,003,797 of them confirmed through PCR tests.

Hospitalizations

According to data from OpenSource PA, there are 1,230 Pennsylvanians hospitalized with covid-19. Of those, 295 are in intensive care units across the state, with 178 of those patients on ventilators. While the state did see a slight increase in hospitalizations over the weekend, the seven-day average (1,290) has dropped to its lowest point since early November.

In Allegheny County, there are 109 covid patients in hospitals, with 35 in ICUs and 23 on ventilators.

In Westmoreland County, there are 25 people hospitalized for covid, with six of them in ICU and five on a ventilator.

The latest data shows there are six counties in the state with just one person hospitalized and four — Wayne, Susquehanna, McKean and Elk — with none.

Deaths

The state reported 14 new covid-related deaths in the past two days. Pennsylvania’s seven-day death total stands at 210. There have been 27,043 covid-related deaths in the state since the pandemic began.

Allegheny County reported two new deaths over the past two days, bringing the county’s total to 1,935. Of the new deaths — both in May, one person was in their 60s, the other in their 80s.

In Westmoreland County, there was one new death reported, lowering the seven-day total to four. There have been a total of 762 covid deaths in Westmoreland.