**Related Video Above: Delta variant threat to those vaccinated and unvaccinated.**
CLEVELAND (WJW) — As the delta variant surges and hospitalization rates go up, Ohio officials continue to grapple with COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy.
As of Aug. 3, only a little over 46% of all Ohioans have been fully vaccinated, the Ohio Department of Health reported. This despite evidence showing the vaccine works in staving off the spread of the virus.
ODH reports that from the period between Jan. 1 and July 28 of this year, only 245 of the 17,455 people who were hospitalized from the virus were fully vaccinated. And, of the 6,890 deaths in the state during that time, only 68 patients were fully vaccinated.
Ohio is far from alone, however. Ninety million Americans who are eligible to get vaccinated have not been, President Joe Biden reported in a press conference today, even though there is enough vaccine to go around.
This all comes at a time when many states and businesses are considering reinstating mask mandates in some way, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently urging people who are fully vaccinated to wear face coverings in surging areas of the country.
So where are people most likely to not get vaccinated in this state?
At this time, Holmes County (as seen in the video player above) remains the least vaccinated with just 14.75% of the population fully inoculated. Meanwhile, Adams and Lawrence Counties in the very southern part of the state are at 24.86% and 25.8% full vaccination rates.
In the ODH map below, the lighter areas represent counties that are least vaccinated:
Breaking things down statewide by age shows that older individuals are most likely to be fully vaccinated:
Looking at which Ohioans are least likely to get vaccinated by race shows a disproportionate picture:
Men also seem to be more hesitant than women to get the vaccine, with only 42% of men considered fully vaccinated versus the 48% of women, ODH reports.
The CDC’s map of current transmission rates shows that many — but not all, including the less-populated Holmes County — of the counties in Ohio where vaccination rate is low are also experiencing a surge in new cases.
The reasons people, especially those in those in hard-hit minority communities, continue to give as to why they are not getting vaccinated are complex. But in the last 24 hours 5,124 more Ohioans are now fully vaccinated, with daily rates going up at the end of July.
Find an up-to-date look at Ohio’s COVID-19 vaccine data at the ODH website right here.