VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — On Monday, the U.S. reached a major milestone in COVID-19 vaccinations.
70% of adults now have at least one shot to protect themselves against COVID-19.
It was a goal the country wanted to hit by July 4th. Now, a month later, that number is continuing to grow.
Theresa Grady brought her daughter, Laniyah, to get her first shot on Monday before school starts.
"She’s getting her vaccine, I’ve had my vaccine, everybody in my house has been vaccinated and she just turned 12."
She says they don't want to be affected by the virus anymore.
"We have three people in our family right now that’s battling with COVID and my brother-in-law is in the hospital right now because of it."
On Friday, the U.S. saw the largest single day increase of shots administered in nine months.
It’s a trend that’s translating here in Hampton Roads.
"We’re seeing the numbers start to increase from the clinics we’ve been doing," says Bob Engle with the Virginia Beach Department of Health. "People are seeing the news with the Delta variant and they’re thinking about it a little bit more and maybe changing their mind."
The Delta variant now accounts for more than 83 percent of all COVID-19 cases.
Engle says on Monday alone, they had 95 people make appointments and almost 30 walk-ins at their vaccine clinic.
"75 percent of the crowd coming through here has been the 12, 13, 14, 15 year old kids coming through with their parents."
He says they’re expecting that trend to continue all week while they set up clinics at different schools in the area.
Right now, all seven cities in Hampton Roads have "high" transmission rates of the virus.
As for Theresa, she hopes everyone decides to get that shot.
"People just need to come on down here and get these vaccines so we can get back to business as usual," she said.
This milestone comes as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the country have been on the rise, particularly in areas with low vaccination numbers.
So far, 54 percent of Virginians have been fully vaccinated.
The Virginia Beach Department of Health will continue holding clinics at different schools in the area through Thursday. They run from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.
- Tuesday August 3rd
- Wednesday August 4th
- Thursday August 5th