Lafayette County continues to be one of the top counties in Mississippi when it comes to the rate of its residents who are fully vaccinated from COVID-19.

While vaccination rates have slowed in recent weeks after the initial surge of doses were administered in late winter and early spring, Lafayette County is still one of the top three counties in the state with 40 percent of its residents fully vaccinated, according to data from the Mississippi Department of Health.

As of May 31, there were 21,381 Lafayette County residents who are fully vaccinated, which puts the county behind Madison County with the second-highest vaccinated rate in the state. Madison County has 41 percent (43,885) of its residents vaccinated and leads the state.

Lafayette County has 23,324 residents that have received at least one dose of the vaccine, which is good for 43 percent of the county’s population. The number includes the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is counted in both the one-dose and fully vaccinated statistic.

In other surrounding counties, Panola County has 9,092 residents (27 percent) who are fully vaccinated and 10,329 residents (30 percent) who have received one dose of the vaccine. Yalobusha County also has 40 percent of its residents fully vaccinated (4,826) and 44 percent (5,321) who have received one-dose.

Since reporting its first case on March 19, 2020, Lafayette County has reported 6,261 cases of COVID-19 and 119 deaths related to COVID-19. Of those cases, 12 have been variant strains with 11 coming from the B.1.1.7 out of the United Kingdom and one case coming from the B.1.427 strain out of California.

Lafayette County’s free vaccination site has transitioned from a drive-thru site to a walk-in site. It is now located inside the Oxford Conference Center at 102 Ed Perry Boulevard. No appointments are needed, but one can be set up at covidvaccine.umc.edu. As of Tuesday morning there were 727 first-dose appointments available.

St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church will be holding a free vaccination clinic on June 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The University Health Center is offering the Johnson & Johnson and is available for anyone 18 years and older. For anyone interested in receiving the vaccine, email office@stjohnoxford.org or call the University Employee Health at 662-915-6550 to schedule an appointment.