Not quite 50 percent.

Nearly two years into a pandemic that has included the onslaught of the delta variant in Southwest Georgia and now the omicron variant, only 49% of Thomas County residents are fully vaccinated.

For Grady County residents, that total stands at 43%.

That’s a year after COVID-19 vaccines were introduced.

The Thomas County percentage is lower than the state average of vaccinations at 53%. But, unfortunately, it’s in line with the vaccination rates of neighboring counties — Colquitt is at 41%, Mitchell is at 47%, and Brooks is at 45%.

Other counties are lagging even farther behind — Lowndes is at 37% and Tift is at 41% too.

Only three counties in the Southwest Public Health District — Lee at 51%, Miller at 55% and Terrell at 58% — have a majority of residents fully vaccinated.

All 14 counties in the Southwest Public Health District — including Thomas and Grady — are now classified as having high transmission levels of COVID-19. 

Vaccination cannot “cure” the virus once a person is already infected but it can prevent people from catching the virus. The vaccine is not a 100% guarantee against catching the virus, either, but health officials say vaccinated people who test positive for COVID-19 are less likely to experience symptoms as severe as people who are not vaccinated. 

Vaccines remain the best public health measure to protect people from COVID-19, slow transmission and reduce the likelihood of new variants emerging, public health officials said.

Health officials are urging people to get vaccinated. Vaccines help decrease the chances of serious illness and hospitalization. It’s now been a year since the first COVID-19 vaccines were made available and vaccination is seen as the best tool to overcome the virus

We have said it in numerous editorials during the past year and will continue repeating it: Please get vaccinated.