City hits key milestone with 75 percent of all Philadelphians receiving first COVID-19 vaccine dose

 

PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Department of Public Health today reported an additional 32,789 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Philadelphia since last reported on Thursday, July 22; due to technical issues vaccination figures were not reported on Monday, July 26. This brings the total number of fully vaccinated Philadelphians to at least 769,850, and the number of Philadelphians with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to at least 934,571. Currently, 62 percent of Philadelphia adults are fully vaccinated, and 75.3 percent of Philadelphia adults have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The Department of Public Health reports 75 patients with COVID-19 are currently being treated in Philadelphia hospitals, with a total of nine on ventilators.

In the last two weeks, three percent of COVID-19 tests in Philadelphia have come back positive. Thus  far during the pandemic, 146,815 Philadelphians have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and 3,766 have succumbed to the virus. Philadelphia is averaging 90 new cases of COVID-19 per day over the last two weeks.

More Than 75 Percent of all Philadelphia Adults Have Received at Least One Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine: The Health Department announced today that at least 75.3 percent of all Philadelphia adults have now received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. This percentage is higher than the United States as a whole, and higher than the majority of states. In addition, at least 62 percent of all Philadelphia adults are now fully vaccinated. There are early indications that the average number of vaccine doses administered per week is rising, possibly due to the increased spread of the Delta variant.

“We are absolutely thrilled to see that three-quarters of adults now have some protection against COVID-19,” said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole. “Vaccinating these hundreds of thousands of our neighbors and loved ones is a testament to the tireless work of Health Department staff and the public health and healthcare workforces throughout the city. But we’re not done yet. To be safely protected against the Delta Variant, we need everyone to be fully vaccinated. If you haven’t gotten your second dose yet, now is the time. Protect yourself and your loved ones and get vaccinated today.”

Health Department Releases Updated COVID-19 School Guidance: The Health Department released updated guidance for schools and early childhood education facilities today. The latest guidance can be found online here. The Health Department will continue to monitor the pandemic and may make changes to this guidance in response to what is happening.

COVID-19 Safety Recommendations for Masking: On July 22, 2021, the Health Department issued new recommendations to protect Philadelphians in light of rising COVID-19 case counts and a slight increase in hospitalizations due to COVID-19. The Health Department strongly recommends that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask when indoors in public. In addition to that recommendation, the Health Department also recommends that Philadelphians: 

  • Choose outdoor rather than indoor spaces
  • Avoid crowded indoor spaces
  • Mask while indoors around people you don’t know are vaccinated
  • For unvaccinated people, consider double masking while in indoor public spaces

For more information on this guidance, see the City’s blog post on the updated mask recommendations, available in multiple languages.

Apply for Phase 4 of COVID-19 Emergency Rental & Utility Assistance Ahead of Expiring Federal Eviction Moratorium: Yesterday, Mayor Jim Kenney joined the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and other officials to urge landlords and Philadelphians at risk of eviction or utility shut-offs due to COVID-19 to apply for PHL Rent Assist, as the federal moratorium on evictions ends this Saturday, July 31. Since May 2020, the City has made over 23,000 payments to Philadelphia households totaling over $122 million. 

“Keeping people in their homes and supporting landlords affected by COVID-19 has been our priority,”  said Mayor Kenney. “The pandemic and the availability of federal funds made creating the program more urgent, more feasible, and more scalable.” 

If you need help filling out the application or don’t have access to the internet, you can call the Philly 311 line for hands-on assistance. To fill out an online application today, visit phlrentassist.org.

Approved Weekend Street Closures for Outdoor Dining (July 30 – August 2): In June 2020, the City launched four options for restaurants to operate outdoor dining in order to earn much needed revenue. To see this weekend’s approved street closures, view this blog. Vehicular traffic should avoid these streets.

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