The pace of COVID vaccinations in Bucks County, which had steadily declined for several weeks, appears to be picking up again.
A total of 4,822 Bucks County residents received vaccination shots from July 25 – 31, an 18 percent increase from two weeks ago and the second consecutive week of rising vaccine demand.
That trend in Bucks mirrors what is happening nationwide, as the seven-day average of doses administered has risen 26 percent over the past three weeks.
While vaccinations in Bucks are above national averages, vaccination rates have increased by more than 50 percent in several states with low percentages of vaccinated people – even doubling in some.
About 63 percent of Bucks County residents eligible for the COVID vaccine (ages 12 and over) have received at least one dose of vaccine.
The rate of new COVID infections continues to rise in Bucks, reaching a seven-day average of 50 cases per day by Saturday. That is the highest rate since the third week of May, as was the single-day total of 75 new cases reported here on Friday. 
The spike in new cases has not affected the continuing decline in COVID deaths in Bucks, however.
Six deaths were reported in July – the lowest one-month total since the pandemic began – and none since July 15. That compares with more than 200 deaths reported here in January and February, when the vaccination effort was just beginning.
COVID hospitalizations also remain low in spite of the increasing case numbers. For the past two months, the number of COVID patients in Bucks County hospitals have seldom exceeded 10, the number hospitalized here as of Saturday. One of those patients was on a ventilator.
National studies continue to show the effectiveness of the COVID vaccine against serious and fatal cases.
More than 99.99 percent of people who were fully vaccinated have not had an infection resulting in hospitalization or death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Also, a national analysis of available state data by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that more than 90 percent of COVID cases, and more than 95 percent of hospitalizations and deaths, have been among unvaccinated people.
Bucks County continues to offer free vaccinations to anyone age 12 and over from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at the Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem and Warwick Square in Jamison. For a full list of vaccine providers in Bucks County and locations where COVID vaccines are being offered, please check Bucks County’s Coronavirus Testing/Vaccination Information page.
Media contact: Larry R. King, 215-348-6413, [email protected]