Oklahoma sees abrupt decrease in vaccinations
Health officials report 40% decline this week
Oklahoma saw a significant drop in daily COVID-19 vaccinations this week — about 40% less than last week, state health officials said Friday.
Last week, the state was averaging about 23,000 shots given per day. This week, it averaged about 13,000 doses a day, excluding any shots that may be given through federal allocations, said Keith Reed, deputy commissioner of health. Other parts of the U.S. also have seen slowdowns recently in the pace of vaccinations.
Reed said the decline isn’t necessarily because of the nationwide pause in administering Johnson & Johnson vaccines, though that could be a contributing factor.
“We’re still vaccinating thousands of people a day, but it’s not at that level that we want to see,” Reed said.
While demand has dropped fairly evenly across geographic areas and demographic groups, Reed said young
adults, between 20 and 40, make up a smaller percentage of those getting vaccinated. He urged them to “step up” and get a shot.
“I know there’s less concern among that group because there’s the perception that COVID is not as much of a risk to them,” Reed said. “But I would urge them to understand they’re such an important part of breaking the transmission of COVID. They’re so important to our efforts to really stop this pandemic.”
As of Friday, 49% of the state’s adults had received at least one dose of a vaccine, and about 36% are fully vaccinated.
“We need to keep the momentum to vaccinate a significant portion of the population going,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye.
Health officials have noticed a change in how people are seeking vaccinations, too, Frye said. Instead of massvaccination events, which have in recent weeks seen less demand, more people are turning to their primary care doctors or pharmacies to get a COVID-19 vaccine, he said.
The state still has plenty of vaccine supply available — more than 500,000 doses combined of Pfizer and Moderna.
Officials have stressed that vaccinations are a critical factor in slowing the spread of COVID-19 variants in the state. As of Thursday, the state has identified five “variants of concern” and one “variant of interest” — terms the Centers for Disease Control and other public health organizations use to describe some of the COVID-19 variants circulating — said Jolianne Stone, deputy state epidemiologist.
Stone said the most common variants the state has identified are the B.1.1.7, called the U.K. variant, and the California variants: B.1.427, and B.1.429.
All three are thought to be more transmissible than the original virus, and the U.K. variant may be associated with increased disease severity, according to the CDC.
“As of right now, there is no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines currently available are not effective against variants of COVID-19,” Stone said. “We’re seeing individuals who have been vaccinated that may have been infected with a variant have much, much less severe illness. It’s keeping them out of the hospital, and it’s keeping them safe.”
So far, Oklahoma health officials have identified 137 vaccine breakthrough cases of COVID-19 — a tiny fraction of the number of people who have been fully vaccinated, which is over 1,091,000 as of Friday. Those cases are to be expected because no vaccine is perfect, experts have said.
“That’s why it’s still extremely important to stay vigilant, work to vaccinate our communities and increase vaccination rates,” Stone said. “We need to use all the tools available to us.”
“I know there’s less concern
among that group because
there’s the perception that
COVID is not as much of a
risk to them. But I would
urge them to understand
they’re such an important
part of breaking the
transmission of COVID.
They’re so important to our
efforts to really stop this
pandemic.”
Keith Reed Deputy commissioner of health