According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resource, Mingo County has the worst vaccination rate in the state.
The vaccine map on the DHHR website says only 27 percent of Mingo County’s population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Officials with the Mingo County Health Department said those numbers do not reflect the true amount of Mingo County residents who have been vaccinated.
Administrator Keith Blankenship tells news outlets when the vaccine first rolled out, it was difficult for the county to obtain vaccines. Blankenship said many people in Mingo County crossed the river and got their shots in Kentucky. That means Kentucky gets credit for those vaccines.
Blankenship estimates that if you count those residents who got vaccinated in Kentucky, that would put the county number at 44 percent.
Vaccines are now available at most pharmacies for free in West Virginia.
