TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is seeing COVID-19 vaccinations rise while the more contagious delta variant is increasing new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
The state averaged 1,080 new COVID-19 cases a day for the seven days ending Monday, according to Kansas health department data. It was the first time the seven-day average has topped 1,000 a day since Feb. 2.
Allen County currently has 57 active cases. The county has recorded a total of 1,411 cases.
Kansas averaged 30 new hospitalizations and eight new deaths a day for the seven days ending Monday. Hospitalizations averaged 34 a day in early May, but the figure dropped below 10 per day in mid-June.
The latest average for deaths was the highest in five months. More than 99.99% of fully vaccinated people have not had a severe breakthrough case of COVID-19, according to a CNN analysis of CDC data as of Aug. 2
More than 500 additional delta variant cases were confirmed during the previous week, bringing the total to more than 2,200.
Dr. Chad Johanning, of Lawrence, president of the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, told The Wichita Eagle that the delta variant is pushing people to reconsider getting vaccinated.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday that 45.9% of Kansas’ 2.9 million residents are fully vaccinated, below the national figure of 50.2%.
In Allen County, about 40% of residents are fully vaccinated.
More than 5,322 Kansans have died from COVID-19.
But CDC data showed that Kansas averaged 6,330 shots a day for the seven days ending Monday. Five weeks ago, the average was less than 3,000 shots a day.
