Vaccine Tracker: Latest progress in Michiana as cases spike

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) -In this edition of the Vaccine Tracker we continue to track the progress while comparing the percentage or people fully vaccinated in Michiana with the state averages.

First we take a look at how far we’ve come this month, these are the latest percent fully vaccinated by county as of April 1st:

Now, here is a look at Wednesday April 7th:

Michiana went from one county above 20% fully vaccinated to seven counties in just about a week. St. Joseph County in Indiana is leading the way with over a quarter of the population fully vaccinated.

I spoke with the St. Joseph County Department of Health of Wednesday who acknowledges the positive progress in the area but says this comes at a time when cases are spiking around the area.

“Wow, we’ve seen a huge uptick in vaccinations, but wow we’ve also seen numbers increase,” Robin Vida says. She is the Director of Health Outreach at the SJC Health Dept. “It’s hospitalizations of younger folks and we need to be cautious.”

Here is the percentage of Michiana fully vaccinated:

Michiana Fully Vaxxed Number 4-7-21(WNDU)

That number trails slightly behind Indiana and Michigan who sit at 23.7% and 23.6% respectively.

As the vaccine rollout continues and more shots got into arms we are seeing some alarming leaps in cases.

Here’s a look at the new case trends in Indiana:

And here’s the spike in cases in Michigan in just about one month:

“The mixture of all the mitigation; the mask wearing, the physical distancing, the hand hygiene, the attention to the large gathering pieces, and the vaccine. We need all of them to work together to really make an impact,” Vida says.

The message from health officials is to not let your guard down even with more vaccinations going into arms in both Indiana and Michigan.

On the national vaccine battle, NBC news is reporting the latest data from the CDC that shows 1 in 4 US adults are now fully vaccinated and around 40% have at least one dose of the vaccine.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/one-4-u-s-adults-are-now-fully-vaccinated-n1263331

We’ll continue to keep an eye on the vaccination rollout, and I want to hear from you. Email me at zach.horner@wndu.com or find me on Facebook and send a message if you have an issue or idea of something we can dig into on the Vaccine Tracker.