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The region also lags behind the nation in the percentage of adults with at least one shot and in adults who are fully vaccinated, an Enquirer analysis of U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention data shows. Roughly 3 of 5 adults in the region have had one COVID-19 vaccine shot. That's 967,000 of the 1.7 million adults in the 16 counties.
In addition, the region's path to reaching the herd protection that will block wide transmission of the novel coronavirus looks to be difficult, leaving the area with pockets of vulnerability. The reason: vaccine hesitancy, while continuing to drop in 2021 as people have become more familiar with the COVID-19 shots, remains above 20% in many areas.