About half of Ohioans have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But that statewide average includes counties with rates as low as 20% and 30%.
In rural Brown County, about a third of people have gotten the shot. Kyle Arn is the county health commissioner.
"We're a pretty rural county, you know, population about 43,000," he said. "So I think we've seen a little bit of an uptick in requests for vaccinations, but I think, for the most part, people that have wanted the vaccine have gotten it."
The pandemic trends here match what's happening across the country: new cases of the virus are on the rise and vaccinations have basically stalled.
Young people have some of the lowest rates of COVID-19 vaccination: 41% of Ohioans in their 20s, and just 17% of that age group in Brown County.
Arn says he hears a lot of common reasons from unvaccinated young people: they're not worried about getting sick.
"That's where the conversation leads to not only protecting them, but maybe more importantly, protecting the people that they're around," he said.
Arn says he's confident life can get back to normal as long as people continue basic precautions and get vaccinated as soon as possible.
