Officials: Vaccines effective against Delta; one third of new cases 19 and younger

Nebraska’s state epidemiologist Dr. Matt Donohue recently released the above graphic about the rates of infection, hospitalization and death in Nebraska due to COVID-19. This data was reported by many healthcare professionals from all across the state and was carefully reviewed before publication. SWNPHD encourages residents to seek out reliable sources such as this and to put their confidence in the integrity and professionalism of their fellow Nebraskans.

McCOOK, Neb. — COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the Delta variant, according to the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department.

“Within the nine-county health district, the majority of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have been in unvaccinated individuals,” according to a release.

“It is very rare that a fully vaccinated individual gets hospitalized for serious illness due to COVID-19 in Southwest Nebraska.”

One-third of the cases recently reported are age 0-19.

SWNPHD had 104 new cases of COVID-19 reported from September 28 to October 4, 2021, bringing the weekly average to 93 cases per week in the last 30 days. A breakdown by age includes: 0 to 19 – 33; 20 to 29 – 5; 30 to 39 – 16; 40 to 49 – 14; 50 to 59 – 9; 60 to 69 – 17; 70 to 79 – 8; 80 and over – 2. The total number of cases is 4,697. Vaccination rates across the health district have reached 50%, counting both fully vaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals.

Nebraska is fortunate to have experts available in public health and biosafety at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Nebraska Medicine, and other facilities across the state, according to the release.

They along with Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services have provided easy-to-understand explanations of both local COVID-19 data and worldwide trends.

Pfizer, Moderna, and the one-dose J&J COVID vaccines are available at several locations throughout the health district including at SWNPHD, local pharmacies and participating providers. All three COVID-19 vaccines currently approved for use in the United States have proven to be effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization, and death.

Visit swhealth.ne.gov for information on COVID-19, including the state dashboard of cases by county. You can also follow SWNPHD on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. SWNPHD serves Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Hayes, Hitchcock, Keith, Perkins, and Red Willow counties. SWNPHD is located at 404 West 10th St (1 block north of Arby’s) in McCook and can be reached by calling 308-345-4223.