Washington County vaccines top 8,600

Vaccination numbers continue to rise in Washington County.

Washington County Public Health Director Danielle Pettit-Majewski told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that more than 8,600 vaccines have been administered in Washington County, with 3,163 people having received a full series of vaccines.

However, positivity rates have been increasing in the area.

Pettit-Majewski reported that Washington County's positivity rate is at 3 percent, while Johnson County is at 3 percent and Jefferson County is at 1.8 percent.

'These are low, but we're starting to see it go back up,” she said. 'We're starting to see an increase in hospitalizations around the state.”

She added that health officials are seeing an increase in the UK variant in some places around the country.

'The current vaccine protects against the UK variant, but were not even close to herd immunity,” Pettit-Majewski said.

She explained that herd immunity is when enough people have the antibodies and have been vaccinated to prevent the spread of the virus.

Supervisor Marcus Fedler asked if 'natural immunity” had any part in the calculations.

Pettit-Majewski said that there are questions about how long natural immunity - becoming immune after having COVID - lasts.

'We're already seeing reinfections past 90 days but before 180 days,” she said.

Supervisor Jack Seward Jr. said that his primary concern was the number of people who are sick, not the number of positive tests.

'Even if you're not sick, you can still pass the virus to someone else,” Pettit-Majewski said.

'That's the claim,” Seward responded.

Pettit-Majewski said that Washington County Public Health receives about 300 vaccine doses a week.

'It's possible that at the end of March or beginning of April, we may start seeing more,” she said.

She added that retail pharmacies have been seeing their allocations increase.