Vaccine rates low among some high-risk populations in North Carolina
Along the Virginia-North Carolina border sits Northampton County, a place that a little more than 19,000 people call home.
Over the course of the last 14 months, 58 people in the county have died from COVID-19. That number alone isn't notable and is in the bottom half of the state for deaths per county, but when you take into consideration that about 1,800 people in Northampton County have had COVID-19, it causes concern.
That's a 3.1% mortality rate in the county for a virus that has an average mortality rate of less than 1%.
Although Northampton County has the highest mortality rate in the state, only a third of the population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to state data.
The calibrated rollout of COVID-19 vaccines began with those most at-risk for not only catching the coronavirus but dying from it. Initially, it was offered to frontline health care workers before being expanded to people 65 and older then those with underlying health conditions.
Still, data analysis shows there is high vaccine hesitancy among some North Carolinians who are most at-risk for having severe or fatal reactions to the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports people who are over 65 and members of groups impacted by long-standing systemic health and social inequities are more likely to become severely ill from COVID-19.
"Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you, particularly people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19," according to the CDC.
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Additionally, the CDC points out a number of health conditions, what have been referred to as "co-morbidities," including heart disease, cancer, obesity and diabetes, that correlate with hospitalization, intensive care, needing a ventilator or even death from the coronavirus.
"Many factors, such as poverty and health care access, are intertwined and have a significant influence on the people’s health and quality of life," the CDC reports on its website.
Residents in Northampton County are among the top in North Carolina for a variety of COVID-19 risk factors. Almost one in five people in the county has diabetes, data compiled by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine reports. More than a quarter of residents are 65 years old or older. In addition to that, a majority of the population is comprised of Black residents – a community which health officials have been working with to break down vaccine hesitancy.
In Wayne County, which has the highest obesity rate in the state, fewer than one out of every four people are at least partially vaccinated.
Dare County has the highest vaccination rate. Thus far, 49.4% of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Dare County, which includes the Outer Banks and North Carolina's barrier islands, has the second lowest COVID-19 mortality rate. It also has a poverty rate of 8.9% which is notably below the state's 13.6% rate.
The counties with the lowest vaccination rates per population include Onslow (15.1%), Hoke (15.2%) and Cumberland (18.4%) – all of which host military bases. Vaccination data for the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs are not factored into the state's, so these rates could be higher. Robeson and Harnett counties, with 19.9% and 20.4% vaccination rate respectively, round out the bottom five counties.
Robeson County not only has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita. It also has the highest poverty rate in the state, at 31.5%.
Coronavirus vaccinations in NC
In the five months since the vaccine has been available, disparities have been noticed across wealth lines.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports Orange County has the highest personal income per capita. The county also has the third-highest vaccination rate, with 47% of residents receiving their first dose.
