This story originally published online at N.C. Policy Watch.
Some vaccination percentages on the state Department of Health and Human Services dashboard look a lot different.
It turns out, the vaccination rate in Orange County isn’t more than 80 percent, and it’s a lot higher in Swain County than previously known.
DHHS said in a press release Friday that information provided from the CDC from the U.S. Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Indian Health Services, and the federal Bureau of Prisons was based on where people got their shots rather than on where they lived. The revisions correct that.
As a result, the percentage of fully vaccinated Orange County residents fell to 60 percent. The recalculated rate is down to 29 percent in Hoke County from the nearly 49 percent of residents who were thought to be fully vaccinated.
Swain County saw the biggest positive swing with this correction, up to 48 percent of residents fully vaccinated from the previously reported 36 percent.
About 82 counties will show increases, DHHS said, with the rest showing no change or small decreases.
Statewide, 53 percent of the state population is fully vaccinated, according to DHHS.
Vaccinations increased with the rise of the Delta variant but they’re stepping back down to pre-Delta lows. DHHS reports 113,508 first and second doses administrated last week, the least since the week of July 26.
The CDC reports nearly 56 percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation , the Delta variant, reports of hospitals and ICUs filling up, someone they know getting seriously ill or dying, and the desire to participate in activities requiring vaccination were major motivators for people who were recently vaccinated.
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