Marin County has outdone the rest of the state.
In a major pandemic milestone, the county now has 90 percent of eligible residents vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
As of Wednesday, nearly 201,000 of Marin's approximately 223,000 eligible residents have received at least one dose and about 82% of eligible residents have been fully vaccinated.
"Reaching the 90% mark is very well timed. It coincides with our wide reopening last week, while we see variants of concern circulating in our community," Dr. Matt Willis, Marin's Public Health Officer, told KCBS Radio's Holly Quan and Jeff Bell on Wednesday.
"We have the highest rates in California," he said. "And the highest rates in the nation."
"When we first saw doses arrive in mid-December our goal had been 90%," said Willis. "I was optimistic we would reach that goal, and here we are."
The vaccination rate isn't all Willis is celebrating.
Marin also has had no hospitalizations, no deaths related to COVID-19 in the last month and the case count has been the lowest it's ever been. "I'm grateful to our community for recognizing the benefit of the vaccine," he said. "I think we're seeing the payoff now."
Two recent outbreaks among unvaccinated residents in Marin have been tied to the Delta variant. Both outbreaks were controlled within 14 days and are no longer active. The vaccine has been shown to protect against the variant.
Willis said the county has been focused on making sure vaccines are accessible to all groups. As a result, their Latinx community has the highest rate of vaccination, he said, while unfortunately, their Black residents are among the lowest, in the mid-70s.
To reach the remaining 10%, the county is targeting specific communities or homebound residents who may have missed the opportunity to visit a vaccination site.
