Natasha Vaughn is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Columbia County Department of Health has reported three new positive COVID-19 cases, the first cases of the coronavirus the county has diagnosed in four days. Two of the three positives were unvaccinated young people — in a third-grader and an 18-year-old. The third person was a 60-year-old. “It’s interesting that a third-grader, an 18-year-old and a 60-year-old and the only one vaccinated, obviously the third-grader can’t be, but the only one vaccinated was the 60-year old,” Columbia County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb said. All three were community members, not residents of any care or assisted living facilities or group homes, Mabb said. The 60-year-old had received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Another unvaccinated 18-year-old tested positive the week before, Mabb said. “We did a study, if you will, of the month of April, and the average age of our positives was 37,” he said. Vaccinations play an important role in determining whether a person can still get the virus, Mabb said. A large number of young people are not getting the shots, he said. “The last numbers I saw among the 18-to-35-year-olds were like 33 percent vaccinated,” Mabb said. Children younger than 12 are not eligible for any of the approved COVID-19 vaccines. The Department of Health reported June 29, that 26 county residents are in mandatory quarantine and no county residents are currently hospitalized. A rising concern throughout the nation is the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. Columbia County has not been notified of any Delta cases, Mabb said. A vaccinated Ulster County resident tested positive for the Delta variant, officials reported on June 28. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.