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As more people get vaccinated each week, Stanly County’s cases of COVID-19 have declined significantly over the past few months and are at some of the lowest levels since the pandemic began last spring.

Over the past week, the county has averaged four new daily cases per 10,000 residents, a sharp contrast to even a month ago, according to data from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, and it’s been almost three weeks since the county had more than 20 cases in a single day (there were 23 on May 10), according to data from the county health department’s Facebook page.

As of Thursday, two people were hospitalized due to COVID-19 and there have been no new COVID deaths in about two weeks. Since March of last year, Stanly has had 7,894 lab-confirmed cases and 142 people have died.

About 32 percent of Stanly County residents (19,816) have been partially vaccinated, up six percentage points from last week, while about 28 percent (17,783) are fully vaccinated, up four percentage points, according to NCDHHS data. The county health department, as of Thursday, has administered 13,072 first doses and 11,811 second doses.

The health department administered 93 first doses of the vaccine this week, of which 36 went to people 18 and younger, Stanly County Health Director David Jenkins said. An additional 53 kids received their first shot last week.

Due to a decrease in the demand for vaccinations over the past few weeks, the department is now administering first doses only once a week and second doses twice a week.

The health department and Stanly County Schools will sponsor two vaccination events for kids ages 12 and up at Albemarle Middle School in the summer — one on June 23 and the other on July 14, both from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Families of students can also get vaccinated at these events.

“I think the more students that get vaccinated, the faster we will be able to get back to normal,” Superintendent Dr. Jarrod Dennis said. “Vaccinations will decrease the number of students that need to quarantine if a student comes into contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive. Students in activities such as sports will also benefit from not having to quarantine after an exposure as long as they are vaccinated and they show no symptoms.”