A Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine vial.

PACIFIC COUNTY — For the first time since early summer, Pacific County received good news on a pair of pandemic fronts.

Last week, the Washington State Department of Health reported that more than 50% of the county’s total population was considered fully vaccinated against covid-19. Meanwhile, newly reported cases of the virus in the county continued to decline.

Vaccine milestone

As of Oct. 9, 50.5% of all Pacific County residents are now considered fully vaccinated against the virus.

Progress in local vaccination efforts has been relatively slow, but steady, ever since the Delta variant emerged this summer, after nearly grinding to a halt in late spring and early summer. The pace of vaccination from early August until Oct. 9 was more than twice as fast than the preceding two-month period, with health officials largely attributing the gains to the threat posed by the Delta variant, government and employer vaccination mandates, and the full authorization of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“It’s a great milestone to get past,” county health director Katie Lindstrom said.

Vaccination rates are expected to continue to rise, as deadlines for certain public and private sector employees in the state draws nearer. About 240 people in Pacific County received their first vaccine dose from Oct. 3-9, the most in a weekly span since early June. Overall, 56.3% of all county residents have received at least one vaccine dose.

Vaccine providers in the county are also continuing full steam ahead in offering booster shots of Pfizer’s vaccine to those who are currently eligible. Hundreds of booster shots have been given in the county since they became available late last month, with Ocean Beach Hospital leading the charge in south county. For a full list of upcoming vaccine clinics in Pacific County, visit www.pacificcountycovid19.com.

Cases continue to drop

As vaccinations rise in the county, cases are continuing to drop after reaching a peak late in the summer.

The case rate per 100,000 people over a two-week period stood at 531 as of Oct. 10, according to Lindstrom. It’s the lowest the case rate in the county has been since early August, and down from a peak of more than 900 about a month ago.

“I think we’re mirroring what’s happening across the state,” Lindstrom said. “We’re cautiously optimistic, at this point, that things are starting to turn. It feels like we’re on the other side of the Delta wave — not completely, but we’re on the other side of the hill.”

There have been a total of 1,951 cases reported in Pacific County since the pandemic began, up 48 from a week ago. Hospitalizations are up five from a week ago, to 107, while the death toll increased by one, to 29. Recent covid-19 hospitalizations include people as young as their 30s and 40s, Lindstrom said.

According to county health department data, 80% of all deaths caused by covid-19 in Pacific County since March 1 of this year have been in people who were not fully vaccinated. About 84% of all covid-caused hospitalizations in the county over that same period have been in people who were not fully vaccinated.

A report from Cowlitz County released last week shows that since the Delta variant become the predominant strain of covid-19, the hospitalization rate among fully vaccinated southwest Washington residents — which includes Pacific County — is 13 times lower among people aged 35-64 who were not fully vaccinated, and 7 times lower among people 65 and older.

“[The data] makes a pretty compelling case for the vaccine,” Lindstrom said.