Dorchester Times: Only About 50% Of Saline County Area Is Vaccinated For COVID-19

Monday, October 11, 2021

Only About 50% Of Saline County Area Is Vaccinated For COVID-19

The Delta variant of COVID-19 has taken a toll. In 2021, more Americans have already died from COVID-19 than in 2020.

While the COVID-19 vaccine has not been as effective in preventing new cases as experts had hoped, it has largely prevented hospitalizations and death.

According to the latest state figures, since the start of 2021, Nebraska has seen 922 COVID-19 deaths tied to individuals who were not vaccinated, compared to 83 deaths tied to individuals who were fully vaccinated.

Moreover, the state has seen 3,403 hospitalizations among those not vaccinated; for the fully vaccinated, it's 301. (That means 92% of hospitalizations have occurred among the unvaccinated.)

According to the latest figures from the CDC, only about 54% of eligible Saline County residents had received their COVID-19 vaccine as of early October.

Public Health Solutions -- which serves Saline, Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, and Thayer counties -- reports that the district is significantly trailing the state average for vaccinations in every age category of 64 and under.

Fortunately, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are declining in the U.S. and worldwide. But experts remain cautious, as the spread of new variants and changing social behaviors could cause another spike, especially among under-vaccinated communities.

Meanwhile, as a reminder of just how serious this virus from China is, from early March 2020 through Oct. 10, 2021, Nebraska has seen 2,845 deaths from COVID-19 complications.

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7 comments:

AnonymousAugust 2, 2021 at 12:17 AM
I suppose the Village (idiot) Dweller will blame this on Biden as he tries to rid the USA of the virus that Trump and the foolish Republicans let run rampant. It is time that the Trump loving Republicans get over the honest election results and quit blaming others for the problems that the Republicans themselves have created. With all of the crying, whining and non-ownership of the problems that they created I am ashamed to be associated with the Republican party. I imagine that the Times also agrees with Ricketts, who is so afraid that Trump will expose some dirt on his family, that it is ok for Nebraskans to foot the bill for our State Patrol to help Texas secure the border. If it is such a problem maybe the National Guard would be a better option.
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AnonymousOctober 30, 2021 at 12:03 AM
Lets go Brandon!
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."