Douglas County is the most vaccinated county in Kansas against COVID-19

photo by: Contributed Photo/Heartland Community Health Center

From left, Dr. Cooper Nickel, a primary care provider at Heartland Community Health Center, and his father, Dr. Graig Nickel, a family physician at Watkins Student Health Center at the University of Kansas, receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020, at Heartland.

Story updated at 5:17 p.m. Tuesday:

Douglas County has the highest rate of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Kansas, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

In Douglas County, 438 out of every 1,000 people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The county’s exact vaccination rate is 438.6 per 1,000 people. The next-most vaccinated counties and their vaccination rates are as follows: Marshall County, 425.9 per 1,000 people; Mitchell County, 411.6 per 1,000 people and Meade County, 404.2 per 1,000 people.

Dan Partridge, director of Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, said the county’s high vaccination rate is an example of one of the ways Douglas County has been leading the way in the fight against COVID-19. Partridge also mentioned the county’s success in slowing the spread of disease.

“For me it’s another example of how I’m appreciative of everything this community has done in response to COVID,” Partridge said about the vaccination rate.

Vaccination rates per 1,000 people for the counties surrounding Douglas County are as follows:

•Johnson County: 297.4

•Leavenworth County: 235

•Jefferson County: 335.5

•Shawnee County: 330.4

•Osage County: 291.6

•Franklin County: 274.9

•Miami County: 258.4

The above data is accurate as of Monday at 12:30 p.m. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment updates its COVID-19 vaccine dashboard Monday, Wednesday and Friday by 12:30 p.m.

8 new COVID cases reported

Douglas County reported 8,979 cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, an increase of eight cases since Monday.

In Douglas County, 8,785 out of the 8,979 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 194 cases are active.

The health department will not update its COVID-19 epidemiological dashboard Wednesday or Friday this week, as the office will be closed for vaccine clinics.

The county has averaged about nine new cases per day over the last 14 days, according to a 14-day moving average graph updated weekdays by the health department. The current average of 8.86 new cases per day is up from a low of just under seven new cases per day in mid-March and down from a recent high of 71 cases per day in early January.

Douglas County has a 14-day COVID-19 incidence rate of 103.08 per 100,000 people and a test positivity rate of 2.4%. Seven patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Tuesday, one more than Monday. To date, 86 Douglas County residents have died from COVID-19.

Anyone who has not completed Douglas County’s vaccine interest form may do so online at dgcoks.org/vaccineinterestform. Any residents with questions about COVID-19 or the vaccine interest form may call Douglas County’s help line at 785-864-9000.

At the University of Kansas, there is a 1.09% COVID-19 positivity rate among faculty, staff and students for the most recent seven-day period for which data is available. Out of 551 total tests between March 29 and April 4, six came back positive. One week ago, KU had a 2.73% COVID-19 positivity rate. Out of 293 total tests between March 22 and March 28, eight came back positive.

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