What’s Behind Benton County’s Comparatively Low COVID-19 Vaccination Rate?

(KNSI) – Across the state, roughly 57 percent of residents 16 and older have gotten at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, this percentage fluctuates by county, and Benton County has the lowest vaccination rate by population in the state. So far, 34 percent of the county’s eligible population has gotten vaccinated.

Benton County community health supervisor Sam Hageman says there are many factors that play into this. Hageman said there is not an issue with getting vaccines from the state of Minnesota, but she says the county has struggled with getting people to sign up for vaccine clinics, and appointment no-shows are increasing.

“For this reason, we have suspended our community clinics for the time being, and have started working on scheduling pop-up clinics around the county in partnership with CentraCare,” Hageman said.

Area residents also have many venues to choose from when they want to receive their COVID-19 vaccine, from pharmacies to health clinics and from hospitals to the state’s community vaccination sites. This a factor that could explain Benton County’s low scheduling rate, Hageman said.

“The culture around COVID-19 and vaccinations in Benton County may help explain some of our low rates of COVID 19 vaccinations,” Hageman added. “We’ve had very vocal community members speaking out against mitigation strategies and the COVID-19 vaccine. … We will be focusing more time and resources on community outreach and education across the county, and providing support to local organizations and school districts to assist in mitigation strategies as we see COVID case rates rising again in our area.”

Though Benton’s COVID vaccination rate lags behind other parts of the state, Hageman says comparing the current vaccine saturation to flu immunization data shines more light on the county’s situation. Right now, Benton’s COVID vaccination rate among seniors is higher than its flu vaccination rate from 2018 to 2020: 59 percent of Benton County residents age 65 and older are vaccinated against COVID, while the most recent data from the Minnesota Immunization Information Connection shows a 54 percent flu vaccination rate among Benton seniors.

For younger residents, COVID vaccine uptake is similar to flu vaccine uptake. Thirty percent of residents ages 18 to 64 got their flu shots in 2018-2020, and Hageman says 27 percent of residents in that same age demographic have received the COVID vaccine.

During a media briefing Thursday, Minnesota Department of Health officials addressed some confusion about COVID-19 vaccination. State infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann said it is important to get vaccinated even if you have been sick with the disease.

“When you’ve had COVID disease, you do not have permanent, lifelong protection, for instance like you do following a case of the measles,” Ehresmann said. “We would say if you had COVID, go right ahead and get vaccinated. The only time when we would say you should not be vaccinated is if in fact you are still in the period where you need to be isolated or you still have symptoms.”

A recent CDC report shows that not only are COVID-19 vaccines effective at preventing disease in real-world settings, for those who have “breakthrough cases” — positive cases that occur more than 14 days after a person receives their final dose — the double-dose vaccines are 94 percent effective at keeping adults 65 and older out of the hospital.

In total, Minnesota has recorded 1,163 cumulative breakthrough cases of COVID-19. Those patients represent 0.09 percent of the 1,256,342 Minnesotans who are at least two weeks out from their final dose.

COVID-19 vaccines around the United States are free and do not require health insurance.

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