COVID infection rates drop among Whatcom’s fully vaccinated, but climbs among unvaccinated

While COVID-19 case rates continued to climb among Whatcom County’s unvaccinated and partially vaccinated residents during the second week of January, the fully vaccinated population saw a drop in case rates, according to data released by the Whatcom County Health Department.

Approximately 70% of Whatcom County’s 3,476 total COVID-19 cases reported between Jan. 9 and Jan. 15 (2,429 cases) were among people who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, according to the Whatcom County Health Department’s latest COVID-19 Data Report released Friday, Jan. 21. Based on the 145,636 residents in the county who would have been fully vaccinated by Jan. 9, according to previous reports on the state dashboard, that leaves approximately 83,064 residents who were not fully vaccinated by that date, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis found. That means that the infection rate for Whatcom’s unvaccinated or partially vaccinated is 2,924 cases per 100,000 residents, which is up from the rate of 2,327 per 100,000 residents one week earlier (Jan. 2-8).

or comparison, the health department reported 1,047 COVID cases among fully vaccinated residents in the county between Jan. 9 and Jan. 15. That works out to an infection rate of 719 cases per 100,000 residents, The Herald’s analysis found, which is down from 845 cases per 100,000 residents one week earlier (Jan. 2-8).

COVID-related hospitalizations during the week of Jan. 9-15 also was heaviest among Whatcom unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, with 51 of 63 among those not fully vaccinated, the health department reported.