Local communities inching toward 70 percent vaccination rate

May 18, 2021 | Peter Currier
peter@thewestfieldnewsgroup.com

The Southwick fire and health departments, along with the Senior Center, gave COVID-19 vaccines to homebound residents last week. Pictured left to right, Board of Health Director Tammy Spencer, Senior Center Director Cindy Sullivan, Firefighter EMT Carrie Bradbury, Firefighter Paramedic Stephen Backman and Firefighter Paramedic Michael Newman.
Reminder Publishing photo submitted by Russ Anderson

WESTFIELD – The COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to millions of Americans with varying degrees of success in different states. President Joseph R. Biden has said on multiple occasions that he wants to see 70 percent of Americans vaccinated by Independence Day.

In Massachusetts, more than seven million doses had been administered as of May 15 according to the Department of Public Health (DPH).

Reminder Publishing took a look at how many members of some Western Massachusetts communities have received their vaccine so far and how close they are to the goal of 70 percent.

In Westfield, where vaccine data also includes Montgomery, 13,008 residents are fully vaccinated, meaning they have received both doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. With a population of more than 42,000, approximately 31 percent of Westfield residents have received at least a single dose as of May 13. There are 18,341 Westfield residents who have received at least one dose of any of the approved vaccines, which equals 43 percent of the city’s population.

In Southwick, a town of about 10,000 people, 4,358 residents have received at least one dose of any of the vaccines. There are 3,158 people considered to be fully vaccinated, which equals 32 percent of the town’s population.

According to the state’s vaccine reports, Tolland and Granville are paired together. Across the two communities 825 residents, or 42 percent of residents, are fully vaccinated. The DPH did not publish any data on how many residents of Granville or Tolland have received at least one dose of any of the vaccines.

The vaccine data for Huntington is also incomplete, as vaccinations for Huntington residents aged zero to 19 were not published in the May 13 report. At least 1,108 residents were otherwise reported to have received their first doses of any of the vaccines. With a population of 2,200, that means just over 50 percent of residents have received at least one dose. At least 819 residents, or 37 percent of the town, have received both doses or the single-dose J&J vaccine.

Blandford is another hilltown with missing data for those under the age of 20. Otherwise, at least 422 residents, or 47 percent of the town, are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. There are 574 residents known to have received at least their first dose of any of the vaccines.

In Chester, 491 residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the town of 1,358. At least 443 residents are considered to be fully vaccinated, though data for fully vaccinated Chester residents is missing for those aged 30 and under.

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