Orleans vaccine rate passes 30%

Allegany County now last in state for vaccinations

Photo by Tom Rivers: Lynn Miller, a local EMT, gets a vaccine dose ready during a clinic on April 1 at the Ridgeway fire hall. Lucy Taylor-Welch, in back, is the county’s probation director. She and many other county and local municipal officials are assisting with the vaccine clinics.

Orleans County has hit a new milestone in getting people vaccinated against Covid-19. The county has passed 30 percent of its population with at least one dose of the vaccine.

The state’s Vaccine Tracker currently says 30.6 percent or 12,417 of Orleans County’s 40,612 residents have received at least one vaccine dose. The state says 20.8 percent or 8,452 of the county’s residents have completed the vaccine series.

Orleans is still behind the state rate of 41.4 percent and the rate in the nine-county Finger Lakes Region of 43.0 percent.

The distinction of the county with the lowest vaccination rate has been between Orleans and the Bronx County for most of the past two months. But they have both passed Allegany County, which is now the lowest at 29.3 percent. Allegany is currently the only county out of 62 in the state below 30 percent with at least one dose. (Bronx County is currently at 30.9 percent.)

Orleans continues to lag several percentage points behind nearby counties. The county rates for at least one vaccination dose include: Genesee, 37.4 percent; Niagara, 39.4 percent; Livingston, 37.3 percent; Monroe, 45.3; Erie, 44.0 percent; and Wyoming, 33.5 percent.

To check for vaccination clinics in Orleans County, click here to be directed to the site from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments about their vaccination clinics.

Both counties are offering vaccination clinic registration via phone. In Genesee, call (585) 815-7168. In Orleans, call (585) 589-3170. For both numbers ask for the vaccine registration help line.