Philadelphia trails its 7 neighboring counties on COVID-19 vaccinations

Even as more people get their shots and are protected against COVID-19, both Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties are falling behind when it comes to vaccinations.

As of Tuesday, just 48% of adults in Philadelphia had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Philadelphia’s vaccination rate is lower than each of the seven neighboring counties, and well below the 56% of adults in Pennsylvania that have been fully vaccinated.

For sake of comparison, Chester County has fully vaccinated nearly 58% of its adult residents, while in Burlington County, the reach is 65% of adults.

Among seniors, the population most at risk of serious complications from COVID-19, fewer than 68% have been vaccinated in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties. In Delaware County, nearly 85% of seniors are fully vaccinated, and, in Burlington County, nearly 83% are protected.

Despite the lags in some counties, Pennsylvania has already surpassed President Joe Biden’s goal of having 70% of adults in the country at least partially inoculated by July 4.

As of Tuesday, more than 72% of Pennsylvania adults had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to the CDC. In New Jersey, more than 75% of adults had received at least one shot.

Overall, 14 states have reached the vaccination milestone set by the White House, with Vermont leading all states with 83% of adults receiving at least one shot. But six states — Idaho, Wyoming, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana — have administered one vaccine dose to less than 40% of their adults, according to the CDC.

Absent a drastic improvement, the country as a whole does not appear to be on track to reach Biden’s goal.

Base on the Tuesday data, more than 15 million unvaccinated adults would need to get their first shot over the next 24 days for the nation to hit the 70% vaccination mark by July 4. But the United States has been averaging just 464,000 first vaccinations a day over the last seven days.

“We need to bring the vaccines to where people are and answer the questions that people have,” Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus coordinator, told reporters last week. “And we are confident that more and more people will get vaccinated, leading up to the Fourth of July.”

Graphics editor John Duchneskie contributed to this article.