While daily COVID-19 case numbers are remaining low in Lafayette County, the number of residents receiving vaccination doses is steadily rising.

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), Lafayette County is reporting 20 percent (10,931) of its residents are fully vaccinated as of 8 a.m. on March 30.

Lafayette County has administered 28,805 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to its residents. According to Jimmy Allgood, Oxford’s emergency management director, that is approximately 30 to 40 percent of the county’s population that has received at least one dose.

“That is a very good rate compared to other states and communities,” Allgood told the EAGLE.

As of Tuesday morning, Lafayette County had the fourth-highest percentage of fully vaccinated residents among Mississippi’s 82 counties. According to MSDH, Jefferson County (28 percent), Madison County (25 percent) and Lamar County (22 percent) are the only counties with higher rates than Lafayette County.

As of 6 p.m. on Monday, Lafayette County reported five new cases to bring their total to 5,928 cases since March 19, 2020. There have been 49 new cases reported in Lafayette County over the past week, averaging seven cases per day.

Of those cases, two are being reported by MSDH as variant strains of the novel coronavirus. One case is from the B.1.1.7 from the United Kingdom and the other is B.1.427 from California.