City Officials Say 75% Of Tulsans Are Vaccinated, Will Begin Administering Booster Shots

Tulsa City officials said 3/4 of Tulsa residents are vaccinated during the virtual COVID-19 update on Friday. Starting Monday, Tulsa Health Department will begin offering booster shots for people 65+ and people who are at high risk.

Friday, October 22nd 2021, 12:12 pm



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The Tulsa Health Department says it will soon offer more vaccine boosters.

Starting Monday those eligible for the booster will be able to get the Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, or Pfizer. Tulsa Health Department is recommending booster shots for the thousands of people who are fully vaccinated, even those who have had COVID-19.

“Obviously if you were to contract covid you would build antibodies to COVID-19 additionally with the vaccination you are vaccinated to help you body build those antibodies," said Kelly Van Buskirk.

Van Buskirk with Tulsa Health Department said the average age of new covid cases is 37 years old and the number of hospitalizations is down from just a few weeks ago. 

“The average age for someone in the hospital was 56.3 years old. 33.3 percent of newly hospitalized cases were between the ages of 18 – 49 years. So the groups that makeup half of new cases make up 1/3 of hospitalizations," said Van Buskirk.

She said 65% of eligible Tulsans are fully vaccinated and 75% have received at least the first dose. Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said of the city employees who are vaccinated, the lowest numbers are first responders. 

“Pretty much all of the other departments that haven’t hit the 70% threshold for us are in the 60s or need like a single-digit number of employees to cross that 70% threshold but Tulsa fire department still remains very low," said Mayor Bynum.

Mayor Bynum said the city is offering cash incentives to city employees to get the vaccine instead of requiring it like other cities are doing. 

“Putting in a mandate like that could have severe repercussions from a staffing level standpoint that impacts the safety of every single person in our community far beyond issues related to the pandemic," said Mayor Bynum.


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