The Clatsop County Public Health Department is planning a community survey to better understand the reasons behind the less-than-expected rates of booster shots against the coronavirus.

Boosters have been widely available since last fall, when the fallout from the delta variant — the worst wave of the pandemic locally in terms of hospitalizations and deaths — was still felt in the community. Yet the number of residents who have received the extra jab continues to lag behind the county’s vaccination rates.

As of Friday, 86.5% of residents 65 and older have completed their initial vaccination series — the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine — compared with 64% who have received a booster, according to the county.

Residents 50 to 64 have a 77.5% vaccination rate, compared with 45.9% who have received a booster.

Residents 20 to 49 have a 67.3% vaccination rate, compared with 27.5% who have received a booster.

And residents 18 to 19 have a 53.4% vaccination rate, compared with 16.2% who have received a booster.

Statewide, 75.5% of Oregon residents 18 and older are fully vaccinated, compared with 44.4% who have had a booster. The gap persists despite evidence that a booster dose significantly decreases the severity of illness and the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19.

The survey from the Public Health Department will reflect the community’s experience during the vaccination campaign, which began early last year, and help the county address ongoing concerns, such as information that needs to be clarified or myths that need to be countered.

The plan to take stock comes as Gov. Kate Brown lifted Oregon’s mask mandate, the surge of the omicron variant recedes and the virus case and hospitalization counts dwindle. The governor intends to lift the state emergency over the virus in April.

Next week marks the second anniversary of the first recorded COVID-19 case in Clatsop County.

The county had recorded 4,550 virus cases as of Monday, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

The Public Health Department said that the availability of at-home testing means that the official count probably does not capture the true total. Some people who got a positive result in private may not have reported it.

Margo Lalich, the county’s interim public health director, said the county’s vaccination campaign has been successful. While the health department did not expect that everyone would get vaccinated, the county has among the highest vaccination rates in the state: 73.6%.

“The pandemic is not over,” she said. “While guidance and policies are always changing, we’re still in a pandemic, and we’re learning how to live with this virus circulating in the community,”

A new concern is how to navigate a world where wearing masks as a precaution against the virus is voluntary.

Businesses have recently reached out to Lalich about masking. She heard stories of employees dealing with customers who resented the mask mandate, especially customers who visited from places without mandates. Some people became angry and belligerent and verbally abused employees who were trying to provide customer service.

Lalich hopes the voluntary approach comes to be seen as part of the community’s diversity.

“We don’t know everyone’s story, and there may be a reason why somebody needs to wear a mask,” she said, “and so don’t assume you know — just allow them to wear a mask as they’re choosing to wear a mask, just like people do all kinds of things with how they present to society and it’s their choice to do so.”

Although the pandemic is moving into a new phase, Lalich said it is important to remember: “We’ve been here before. We were here before delta … We removed the masks, everyone got together, and then we went through two surges after that.”

The world is experiencing a period of calm. “And yet we also don’t know what may be,” she said. “And so there’s this sense of humble anticipation.”