Gun violence plagues York City and police deal with dozens of shootings – Also on the program: Vaccination rates don’t tell the whole picture, as virus spreads fast among the unvaccinated

Gun violence is on the increase across the country and very close to home.

The City of York, in particular, is on pace for around 70 shootings in 2021 — a number similar to last year. Just last Tuesday, a 15-year-old boy was shot.

What are the factors contributing to so much violence and what can be done to stop it?

York City Police Commissioner Michael Muldrow says it will take the whole community and not just police in an enforcement role. Commissioner Muldrow appears on Monday’s Smart Talk with ideas on the causes of the violence and strategies to make the community safer.

Vaccination rates don’t tell the whole picture, as virus spreads fast among the unvaccinated

More than half of all Pennsylvanians 18 and over are now fully vaccinated, which gets the state closer to the 70 percent goal set by Governor Wolf.

Health officials are pleased with the state’s progress, but are also concerned about vaccination rates slowing and individuals and demographic groups electing not to receive the vaccine at all.

A recent Washington Post report shows that vaccination rates don’t tell the whole picture and that data indicates the virus is spreading fast among the unvaccinated.

Dan Keating is a Washington Post Investigative journalist and he joins us on Smart Talk Monday to talk about the report.

For more on public health issues plus a deeper look at the changing tide of healthcare–check out WITF’s Transforming Health. Online at TransformingHealth.org, a partnership of WITF, WellSpan Health and Capital Blue Cross.