The number of area residents admitted to the hospital who have tested positive for COVID-19 dropped just slightly last week, the Chautauqua County Health Department reported.

However, the vast majority — 32 of the 39 hospitalizations — involve individuals not fully vaccinated against the virus.

On Tuesday, the county Health Department reported 544 new confirmed cases of the virus for the week ending on Christmas. That bumped the county’s total during the pandemic to 18,428. There have also been 17,687 recoveries as well as 271 virus-related deaths with 14 recorded last week.

Regarding hospitals, state Health Department data noted through Sunday that beds were either at capacity or near capacity in the county’s two largest hospitals. UPMC Chautauqua in Jamestown reported 53 staffed beds being filled while Brooks-TLC Hospital System in Dunkirk noted 33 of 35. All nine intensive-care unit beds in the county also were filled. Westfield Memorial Hospital noted three of six beds filled.

Vaccination rates among those in the hospital have become a sticking point with health officials. The county recently began keeping track on who is fully vaccinated within its weekly statistics.

According to the latest information provided, 59% of the county’s population over the age of 5 — those eligible for the vaccine — have been fully vaccinated while 66.1% have so far received at least one dose.

Since Aug. 1, there have been 9,173 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county, of which the vaccination status was known for 7,416 of them. Among those, 4,951 (67%) were not vaccinated, 839 (11%) were partially vaccinated and 1,626 (22%) were fully vaccinated.

As of Christmas, there were 470 active cases in Chautauqua County, 742 people in quarantine and a seven-day positivity rate of 9.5%. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention level of community transmission remained high locally.

In Cattaraugus County, there were 11,583 confirmed cases as of Monday along with 11,068 recoveries and 209 virus-related deaths. The state’s vaccine tracker noted that 54.5% of Cattaraugus County’s entire population have so far received at least one dose.