Gov. Tom Wolf's advice to use any means necessary to encourage constituents to get the COVID-19 vaccine is being largely ignored by some elected officials in the county.

Wolf said in a recent news release that he and members of the bipartisan COVID-19 Task Force sent a letter to all members of the state General Assembly as well as county officials and other leaders asking them to support vaccination efforts and encourage their constituents to get vaccinated against the virus.

The letter called on officials to use all means at their disposal — including social media, newsletters and events — to connect with constituents and encourage them to get the vaccine.

"Part of serving the public is ensuring that our constituents have accurate and timely information on public health risks like the delta variant of COVID-19," Wolf said in the release.

Butler County was recently bumped up to the "substantial" transmission level by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because of an increase in the number of cases and percent of positive tests the county has experienced.

The county saw 100 new cases from July 26 to Aug. 1 and a positive test percent of 4.33% from July 24 to 30.

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