Covid Tracker April 20-21 – Vaccinations rise sharply in Shalhevet community

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Logo Design by Sarah Feuer, Photo by Benjamin Gamson

POLL: View a slideshow of poll results by clicking through the Gallery box below.

By Benjamin Gamson and Eli Weiss

More than 40 percent of Shalhevet students and staff have been at least partially immunized as of April 21, according to the most recent Boiling Point Covid Tracker.

And almost 90 percent of Shalhevet households have at least one person who is vaccinated.

This week for only the second time, the Covid Tracker asked whether respondents themselves — Shalhevet students and staff — had been vaccinated. 

As of April 20-21, 42.6% of respondents said they had received either one or two doses (or one of Johnson & Johnson) vaccines against Covid-19 — 21.8% saying they had received one dose, and an additional 20.8% saying they’d received either two doses or one dose of Johnson and Johnson (which only requires one dose for immunity). 

When the question was whether anyone in their households had been partly or fully immunized, 82.2% of people responded saying yes, two doses (or one dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine), and another 5% said yes, one dose.

Together, these numbers suggest that 87.2% of the Shalhevet community lives with at least one person who is at least partially immunized.

Fewer than 15% — 12.9% — said either that no one in their household had yet had the vaccine, or that they were unsure.

On Jan. 26, the Covid Tracker added a question asking whether anyone in people’s households had received a Covid vaccine. 

The question is worded as follows:

Have you or anyone in your household  (the people you live with) received a Covid vaccine?

There are three choices: Yes, 1 dose, Yes 2 doses (or one of Johnson & Johnson), and No or not sure.  Only one answer may be selected, so the total of “yes, 1 dose” and “yes, 2 doses” represents the percentage of respondents who are at least partially vaccinated.

In the March 9-10 tracker, 32.6% of respondents answered that they or someone in their household had received one dose, and an additional 44.8% said two doses — 67.4% in all.

While the percentage of students and staff who’d been partially or fully vaccinated was a little over 40%, nearly 90% of those surveyed said at least one person in their household was either partly or fully immunized.

Of individuals who have had the vaccine, 84% of respondents said they had received Pfizer and 16% said Moderna. None reported receiving Johnson & Johnson.

Meanwhile, the percentage of people who said someone in their household had tested positive increased slightly, from 18.6% April 6-7, to 20.8% April 21.

Also this week, the percentage of students and staff saying they had been exposed to Covid decreased, from 34.3% on April 7 to 30.7% on April 21, reflecting a different set of students who took the poll. 

The percentage of people who said they had tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic decreased to 7.9% from 9.8% two weeks ago, again reflecting a different set of students who took the tracker.

Also decreasing was the percentage who said they knew personally someone who had died from the illness, from 24.5% to 18.8% in the same period.

This week’s poll was linked on gradewide group chats, posted on Schoology, and given time to complete in several classes. Of about 300 students and staff at school, 101 responded. 

The highest number of responses ever recorded was March 9-10,  181, when the Tracker coincided with Color War and teams could earn points for participation.  

Slightly decreasing this week was the percentage of community members who reported personally knowing someone who has contracted Covid-19 — 91.1% of those surveyed, compared to 93.1% April 6-7.

The Boiling Point is conducting a Covid-19 tracking project to watch how Covid cases are progressing not only at school but among friends, family and personal acquaintances of Shalhevet community members.

The survey is not scientific. Originally it was posted whenever there was a Town Hall, but it is now published every other Tuesday morning. Community members including students, faculty and staff have until midnight the following night to respond.

Click on the gallery below to see answers to all April 20-21 Covid Tracker questions.

Type “Covid Tracker” in the search box for information on previous time periods.