Health officials continue push for COVID-19 vaccines as numbers rise in Cumberland County

Sep. 18—About 73% of eligible Cumberland County residents have had at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, and about 62% are fully vaccinated, according to federal officials.

The percentages for those who are 12 years old or older are included in information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vaccines have not been approved for those younger.

Two of the vaccines require two shots, while the other requires one.

The CDC's COVID-19 data tracker shows that more than 203,300 people in Cumberland County have gotten at least one shot. That's 60.6% of the total population. More than 173,100 residents, or 51.6%, have been fully vaccinated, it said.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Cumberland County appear to have gone up this week after plateauing in late August and going down in early September, according to the CDC.

The state Department of Health and Human Services COVID-19 dashboard appears to show a decrease in cases late this week, but the website says there was a glitch on Wednesday that might have caused cases on Thursday to be lower than the reports should show.

Cumberland County has had more than 40,400 cases of COVID-19, according to the DHHS website. More than 400 county residents have died of the disease, it said.

Hospitalizations in the county appear to be trending down, but the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has increased slightly, according to the CDC data, which goes through Wednesday.

North Carolina has had more than 1.33 million COVID-19 cases, according to the DHHS. More than 15,600 residents in the state have died.

Health officials are urging people to get vaccinated. Nearly all new COVID-19 cases are in residents who are not fully vaccinated, according to DHHS.

"Get a tested, safe and effective vaccine to protect yourself and others against hospitalization and death," the DHHS website says.

Staff writer Steve DeVane can be reached at sdevane@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3572.

___

(c)2021 The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.)

Visit The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) at www.fayobserver.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.