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Philly’s COVID vaccination rate is higher than most of the United States, but it’s still not enough to keep city residents safe.
Why aren’t more people getting vaccinated?
Reasons vary. It could be lack of opportunity. It could be lack of trust. In almost all cases, direct outreach to specific communities has proven to be the most effective way to increase the vax rate.
Latino residents in Philadelphia, for example, got vaccinated more quickly in July than any other racial or ethnic group. Peer outreach is also helping convince young Philadelphians to get their shot, with groups like Philly Vaxx Jawn hosting dance party clinics and posting on social media.
MORE: Philly’s COVID curves: Regularly updated stats on testing and hospitalizations
The charts below show the relative COVID vaccination rates for two main categories in which the Philadelphia Department of Public Health keeps records — race/ethnicity and age — and how they’ve changed over time.
We’ll keep them updated weekly.
Vax rate by race or ethnicity
In terms of percent vaccinated, the group including people of Asian descent is far above all others in Philly.
The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation was one of the first neighborhood organizations to launch a community vax site, which opened in mid-March across from the Crane Community Center. Organizers believe that greatly contributed to the high vaccination rate.
Over the summer, the city and community orgs concentrated on sites in neighborhoods with majority Latino or Hispanic residents, and vaccinations among that population surged — surpassing that of the city’s white residents, which has plateaued.
Vax rate by age
People over 75 years old were the first to be eligible for the vaccine in Philly, but not many more have opted for the shot over the past several months. Their vax rate has been surpassed by the age bracket that includes Gen-X and younger Boomers, which is growing the fastest of all right now.
Minors under 18 were the last to be eligible — the vaccines still aren’t approved for kids under 12 — and the rate is slowly creeping up.
