Data: Connecticut vaccinations at lowest level since early January

The most recent week of COVID vaccination data in Connecticut shows the lowest number of shots administered since early January when only few people were eligible.

For the week ending June 26, there were 43,591 doses administered statewide, according to the state’s data released Thursday. The number represents a decline of almost 30 percent from the week before, and a massive drop since vaccinations peaked one week in early April at more than 315,000.

The lower demand for shots comes as over 67 percent of all residents in the state have received at least one dose, according to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention’s data tracker. A little under 61 percent are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC metrics.

And statewide, COVID-19 numbers have remained low throughout the late spring and early summer. That trend continued on Thursday with 35 new cases found statewide out of 8,046 tests for a daily positivity rate of 0.43 percent. Hospitalizations for the illness rose by six, bringing the state total to 37. One more fatality brought the state’s death toll to 8,279.

But some communities are still lagging well behind the state average when it comes to vaccination, now three months since Connecticut began offering vaccines to anyone eligible, and two months since the state rolled back its pandemicera restrictions.

State data shows vaccinations are lagging particularly in rural communities and with some of the state’s largest cities.

In Mansfield, a town of about 25,000, less than 35 percent of residents have started vaccination while only around 32 percent are fully vaccinated. The percentage of residents with at least one dose increased by less than a quarter of a percentage point in the past week, the data shows.

In Sterling, Thompson and Hartford, less than 45 percent of residents have initiated vaccination, according to the data.

Communities with large underserved populations also tend to rank lower on the list compared with communities with high vaccination rates. The state has prioritized certain underserved communities for vaccination based on ZIP codes. As of Thursday, 51.3 percent of residents living in those ZIP codes have received at least one shot or more, compared with 63.8 percent in all other ZIP codes.

Meanwhile, some communities are close to having all of their residents at least partly vaccinated.

In Canaan, a town of a little more than 1,000 people, 98 percent have initiated vaccination, according to the state’s data. Salisbury, Lyme, Old Saybrook and Kent all also report more than 80 percent of residents have received at least one dose.