SALISBURY — The Rowan County Health Department is back to its base allocation of 300 doses, but vaccination efforts last week boosted the number of first doses administered to local residents by a total of 2,783.

One week ago, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services showed 9,146 first doses administered to Rowan County residents. On Monday, the same number was 11,929. The increase was bolstered by an extra allocation from the state.

Second doses increased by 2,284 among Rowan County residents — from 2,615 one week ago to 4,899 on Monday. While first doses have proved to be a struggle against limited supplies, second doses are set aside to ensure people receive shots on time.

With last week’s effort, Rowan County, at 8.40%, passed Cabarrus, at 8.13%, for percent of residents who have received a first dose. Rowan is within a half percent of Davidson County, at 8.71%. All other adjacent counties have administered more first doses per capita. Across the state, 10.8% of residents have received a first dose, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

One caveat to the state numbers, health officials say, is they do not include people who have received vaccines through the federal government’s program for nursing home and assisted living residents. The numbers also do not include people vaccinated through the Salisbury VA.

Demographic data show there’s still a gap between who’s received a vaccine and the demographic breakdown of people who live in Rowan County. White Rowan Countians, who are about 79% of the population, represent 84.16% of those who have received a first dose. Black Rowan Countians, who are roughly 17% of the population, represent 10.45% of the first doses. Hispanic and Latino residents are 9.4% of the population in Rowan County, but they are just 1.67%% of the first dose vaccinations.

At nearly 60%, more women have received more first doses of vaccines than men in Rowan County.

The state says 34% of Rowan County residents between the ages of 65 and 74 as well as 40% of those 75 and older have received a first dose of a vaccine.

The Health Department will have a drive-thru vaccination event for first doses on Thursday. Appointments start at 8:30 a.m. and end at noon, and there were still spots available Monday afternoon. To sign up for an appointment or get more information about local vaccinations, visit rowancountync.gov/COVIDvaccine.

As the percent of people vaccinated improves, the number of COVID-19 positives reported daily is, too. There were just 42 new COVID-19 positives in Rowan County on Monday and no new deaths.

Despite the improvements, Rowan County continues to see more COVID-19 cases per capita than any neighboring county. Closest is Davie County, which saw 805 positives per 100,000 residents in the previous two weeks. Rowan saw 843 positives per 100,000 residents.

There were 479 people hospitalized Monday across Rowan County’s region — the Triad Healthcare Preparedness Coalition. Of those, 80 were admitted in the previous 24 hours.

North Carolina on Monday reported 2,458 new positives, 824,352 total positives, 1,941 people hospitalized and 10,501 total deaths.

Places to be tested for free this week for include:

• Carolina COVID Testing at 711 East Innes St., open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

• The Rowan County Health Department, 1811 East Innes St., which is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday Tuesday and Friday.

• The Cabarrus-Rowan Community Health Center Mobile Unit, which will be stationed at the Health Department from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday.