Northam Touts Virginia's Vaccine Ranking And Lower COVID-19 Numbers

RICHMOND, VA —Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday touted his state's effort in vaccinating residents against COVID-19, citing the recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics that rank Virginia 1oth among states for the percent of the population that is fully vaccinated.

In CDC statistics published Wednesday in the New York Times — which feature numbers for states, U.S. territories, federal agencies and three countries with special agreements with the U.S. — Virginia, with 63 percent of its population fully vaccinated, is listed 10th among states.

"We've reached the top ten because so many Virginians have worked so hard for so long," Northam said. "It's something we can all be proud of. Vaccines will soon be available for children, and thousands of adults are getting boosters. This is all great news."

Vermont and Rhode Island are the states with the highest percentage of their population fully vaccinated, with 71 percent apiece.

Virginia, with 71 percent of people with at least one dose of the vaccine, is listed 14th among states in that category by the CDC.

According to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), as of Thursday, 74.5 percent of individuals 18 years of age and older are fully vaccinated, and 82.8 percent of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Nearly 6 million people have received vaccinations and 11.4 million shots have been administered in Virginia, which has a population of 8.5 million, according to the VDH.

In a news release, Northam also highlighted the state's "strong progress" in vaccinating eligible children. According to the VDH, 426,923 people ages 12 to 17, or 67.5 percent, had received at least one dose of the vaccine as of Thursday.

The governor also made clear that vaccines have "proven to be enormously effective" in reducing cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19. He said cases had declined to 1,500 per day as of Tuesday, which represents a drop of 40 percent over the last two weeks. Cases had peaked at over 6,000 daily in January of this year.

Meanwhile, hospitalizations have fallen 42 percent over the last month, and are nearly two-thirds lower than pre-vaccine levels, Northam said.

Federal health officials recently approved booster doses of all three available COVID-19 vaccines — Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna — and 472,026 Virginians had received their booster as of Thursday, according to the VDH.

More information about local vaccine sites is available on the Vaccinate Virginia website or by calling 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682, TTY users call 7-1-1). Answers to frequently asked questions and more information about vaccination for COVID-19 in Virginia is available on the VDH website.