In some U.S. counties, nearly all those over 65 are vaccinated

More than 70 percent of Americans who are 65 or older are fully vaccinated, and 84 percent have received at least one dose, a much higher proportion than for younger Americans, according to federal data. The numbers have surpassed President Joe Biden’s goal of at least partly vaccinating 70 percent of the nation’s adults by July 4.

Some counties have gone far past that threshold, getting shots into the arms of more than 90 percent of residents 65 and older and offering an example for areas where vaccine campaigns have lagged.

Two of the most populous 90 percent-plus counties are Jo Daviess County, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from Dubuque, Iowa, and Dane County, Wisconsin, which includes Madison, the state capital.

Elected and health officials in both counties suggested some of the measures that they have adopted locally, such as expanding access and relying on trusted medical figures to share information about vaccines, were also reflected in the federal government’s strategy to reach those who have not received shots yet after the pace of vaccination has lagged in recent weeks.

Biden has pushed for tens of thousands of pharmacies to allow people to walk in for their vaccinations and ordered up popup and mobile clinics, especially in rural areas. The administration is also enlisting the help of family doctors and other trusted messengers to build up confidence in the vaccines.

On Thursday, Biden praised another incentive: The recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that people who have been fully vaccinated can go without masks in most situations.

Dane County Executive Joe Parisi said this week that a number of efforts contributed to his county’s success in at least partly vaccinating most of the nearly 78,000 people 65 or over who live there. Over 90 percent of that group had been completely vaccinated as of Friday, according to local and federal data.

Officials strove to maximize access to the vaccine. They set up a mass vaccination site in December at the Alliant Energy Center, an arena and exhibition complex in Madison, and have distributed vaccines at health centers, pharmacies and mobile vaccination clinics, according to Morgan Finke, a spokesperson for the county public health department.

Parisi said that the county worked with local hospital systems, health care providers, senior care centers and nursing homes to locate homebound people and help them get shots.

They did not encounter much hesitancy. “People wanted the vaccine,” Parisi said. “That certainly wasn’t the problem with that age group.”

Even so, he said, fostering trust and answering people’s questions are very important, especially now that the most eager recipients are already vaccinated. Parisi said the county partnered with local doctors to spread the word about the vaccines through local news media outlets.

“We tried to share as much information as possible,” Parisi said, by “providing those voices that are nonjudgmental and can answer questions.”

In Jo Daviess County in the northwestern corner of Illinois, communication and community partnerships also played a major role, Lori Stangl, the county’s director of clinical services, wrote in an email.

Of the roughly 6,000 older residents in the county, 96.7 percent were fully vaccinated as of Friday, according to the CDC. Stangl credited extensive collaboration both within the county and with neighboring counties and states.

“Since Jo Daviess County borders Iowa and Wisconsin, many of our residents were able to receive vaccines there as well,” Stangl wrote, “especially early on, when our allocations were low.”