WINCHESTER, Ky. (LEX 18) — The vaccination rate in Clark County is just about in line with where we are as a state (48%), but the positivity rate there is a slightly different story.
“As of yesterday it was 26.4 percent,” said Rebecca Kissick, the county health department’s public health director.
That number places Clark County in the red zone, which makes the county a lot like so many others across the state right now.
“It’s the vaccination rate paired with the Delta Variant and rapid spread,” Kissick said of the many reasons her county’s infection rate has risen in the last month.
But there could be some light at the end of the tunnel for those who do believe in the vaccines. Because the Delta Variant is making its way around the world, and because it seems to be a more dangerous and more communicable mutation of SARS-CoV-2, it could be a reason the vaccines begin gaining a little more traction among those who don’t have as much faith in their safety.
“As we have really begun to talk about the Delta Variant and we’ve begun talking about this variant being more contagious, we’ve had more people interested in having a conversation about vaccines,” Kissick said of many residents of Clark County.
That’s the double-edged sword, but Kissick agreed it could be the one we need to increase the vaccination rate. For now, she, like her counterparts all over the state, will continue to follow the advice coming from the experts in Atlanta.
“Would recommend following that CDC guidance, which does stipulate wearing a mask for anyone regardless of vaccination status while we remain in a red, or high transmission area,” she said when discussing the topic of face coverings in Clark County’s schools this fall.
