SALISBURY — In statistics updated Monday, Rowan County finds itself proportionally below all neighboring counties for first doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered as well as numerically below all but two.

Through January, 7,649 first doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Rowan County, according to statistics from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. That’s roughly 5.3% of the county’s estimated population in the latest U.S. Census population data.

The state says 1,226 second doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the county.

Neighboring county numbers are as follows:

• Cabarrus: 16,138 first doses administered, 6.3%

• Davidson: 11,352 first doses administered, 6.7%

• Davie: 5,241 first doses administered, 12.2%

• Iredell: 12,447 first doses administered, 6.8%

• Stanly: 4,409 first doses administered, 7%.

Proportionally, Rowan County’s numbers also fall behind the state, which has seen 1.06 million people, or about 7.5%, receive a first dose. Meanwhile, in Mecklenburg County, the percent of people who have received a first dose in relatively close to Rowan, 5.4%. Though, the total number of vaccinations is magnitudes higher — 60,593.

Local health officials say the problem with vaccinations is an inadequate supply rather than plans to administer doses and that the county can handle significantly larger supplies of vaccines than the few hundred administered last week.

“Once we get the vaccine in, we are able to get it all out in a matter of hours once the clinic starts,” Oliver said.

The state says it’s guaranteeing a baseline vaccine allocation of first doses to local providers for the next three weeks after exhausting a backlog of supply. For Rowan County, that means 300 doses.

“I am so grateful to our vaccine partners across the state who continue working in innovative ways to make sure North Carolinians have a spot to take their shot. N.C. Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said in a news release. “It is incumbent on all of us to use the limited supply of vaccine we have as quickly and equitably as possible, finding new ways to meet people where they are.”

Even as providers began to administer COVID-19 vaccines, January proved to be the deadliest month yet in Rowan County during the pandemic.  While COVID-19 didn’t produce 70 deaths in Rowan County until five months into the pandemic, local statistics show 74 deaths last month. That’s more than two per day and nearly a third of all deaths reported since the start of the pandemic.

The average age of the dead in Rowan County is 78.

While nursing homes and other congregate living facilities were an early epicenter for local deaths, January brought a rise in fatalities in the community at large. As of Sunday, local statistics showed non-congregate deaths at 136 and fatalities in nursing homes or congregate living facilities at 78.

Report dates lag behind dates of death. But dates of COVID-19 fatalities in data maintained by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services also show January to be a particularly deadly month. COVID-19 fatalities occurred most days in January, with at least one occurring every day until Jan. 20, according to state numbers.

January also brought Rowan County the closest it’s been to hospitals reaching capacity, with 101 of 115 COVID-19 beds in use two weeks ago. Local hospitals have since allocated more beds for COVID-19 patients. Surge plans are in place if one facility in a hospital system reaches capacity.

The number of Rowan County residents hospitalized since the start of the pandemic is 342.

It wasn’t just deaths or hospital beds that brought new, grim records last month. COVID-19 positives also rose at their fastest rate in January, according to local statistics. The Rowan County Health Department reported 3,468 new positives — about 28% of the total since the start of the pandemic. There was an average of 112 positives reported per day in January.

In December, meanwhile, there were 3,143 cases reported — an average of 101 per day.

A major, unexplained discrepancy continues to exist between local and state statistics, with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services showing hundreds more positives than local numbers. County health officials said last week they did not have an answer for the discrepancy.

On Monday, the state showed 13,080 positives in Rowan since the start of the pandemic. The county counted 12,375 positives. Both state and local numbers show Rowan with 246 deaths.

Besides the addition of 97 new COVID-19 positives on Sunday and 82 on Monday, there were no major changes in Rowan County’s daily update. The number of people officially counted as recovered is 6,604.

The state of North Carolina on Monday reported 3,776 new positives, 761,302 total positives, 2,781 people currently hospitalized, 9,342 deaths and 8.9 million completed tests.

View Rowan County’s data hub for COVID-19 statistics at: covid-19-rowancountync.hub.arcgis.com

State numbers are available at: covid19.ncdhhs.gov