Springfield-Greene County Health Department encouraging young people to get COVID-19 vaccinations

(From the Springfield-Greene County Health Department)

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department is encouraging young people to make receiving the COVID-19 vaccine a priority. 

Currently, more than 36% of Greene County residents are fully vaccinated, but that rate is only 17% for residents between the ages of 21 and 30. 

This compares to a vaccination rate of over 70% for 71 to 80 year olds. Younger people are also experiencing the highest rates of disease. At 25%, 21 to 30 year olds accounted for the largest portion of all cases in the two week period ending May 24.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, younger Americans were more likely to have a “wait and see” mentality when it comes to their readiness to get vaccinated. As more people get vaccinated and we begin stepping away from mandated COVID-19 prevention strategies, those who have not been vaccinated will carry the burden of this disease. Younger people may be less likely to be affected by severe illness, but they are not immune from the long term health effects COVID-19 can cause.

The Health Department is working hard to make the COVID-19 vaccine easily accessible for everyone, including the younger residents of our community. 

Those still needing a vaccine can visit vaccine417.com or call our COVID-19 Call Center at 417-874-1211 to see a list of opportunities open to both appointments and walk-ins. Individuals may save time by registering for clinics in advance at covidvaccine.mo.gov/navigator. Those who pre-register should bring their ID and Vaccine Navigator patient identification number with them to the event.

Beginning today, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department plans to distribute bi-weekly news releases to provide the community an overview of COVID-19 data over the last two weeks.

Number of Greene County residents fully vaccinated (as of May 26)

87,609 Greene County residents have been fully vaccinated* (or 36.68%)

This is a 5% increase over the previous two week reporting period

Cases by vaccination status

90% of positive cases since January have received neither their first nor second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

7% have received one dose

3% of cases are fully vaccinated

Fully vaccinated rates by age group

81 and over: 66.67%

71-80: 70.15%

61-70: 58.07%

51-60: 40.58%

41-50: 33.32%

31-40: 27.66%

21-30: 17.36%

11-20: 7.54%

For the reporting period from May 10-24, 2021:

COVID-19 deaths

Two deaths (man in his 60s, woman in her 80s)

Number of new COVID-19 cases

314 cases

7-day rolling average of new COVID-19 cases

26.57 (up from 18 two weeks ago)

Hospitalizations

31 hospitalizations

9 are Greene County residents

The most common known exposure source in the last two weeks was household spread, accounting for 61% of all cases where an exposure source was identified.

Additional information, including daily updates, can be found on the Health Department’s COVID-19 dashboard at health.springfieldmo.gov/coronavirus.