These Seven Counties are Lagging Behind the Rest of Pennsylvania When It Comes to COVID Vaccinations

Downtown Coudersport in Potter County. The county is one of those that are struggling with their vaccination numbers. (Shutterstock Photo/Nolichuckyjake)

By Patrick Abdalla

March 31, 2021

Seven Pennsylvania counties have fully vaccinated less than 10% of their populations.

As Pennsylvania continues to improve its coronavirus vaccination efforts, several counties continue to lag behind.

Seven counties—Beaver, Bedford, Fulton, Monroe, Perry, Pike, and Potter—have fully vaccinated less than 10% of their populations.

These counties have very little in common, other than that they have significant rural populations.

They are in different parts of the state. Pike and Monroe border each other and are in the northeast. Beaver is just northwest of Pittsburgh. Fulton and Bedford share a border with Maryland in the southwest region; Potter borders New York in the north central region. Perry is also in the south central region.

Several of them even border counties that have been markedly more successful in their vaccination efforts. Potter, for example, shares a border with Cameron, the fourth-most fully vaccinated county. Monroe is next to Lackawanna, the fifth most fully vaccinated county.

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State health officials didn’t have an answer for why these counties have fallen behind, but did bring up vaccine hesitancy.

“We do know that there will be vaccine hesitancy and the Department of Health is working on public information campaigns to address that hesitancy,” said state Department of Health spokeswoman Maggi Barton. “We want everyone to consider getting the vaccine as soon as they are able and we encourage them to consult their health care provider if they have questions about the vaccines.”

The state’s initial rollout of the vaccine hit several snags, before Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration made several changes, including adding a bipartisan legislative task force.

Since then, the state has seen marked improvement, administering the second most vaccines per 100,000 residents two weeks ago. The efforts mean about 15% of the state’s 12.8 million people have been vaccinated.