Colorado’s first-dose vaccination administration jumped 65% between the first week of July and the first week of August, a trend fueled by state incentive programs and the surging delta variant.

The week of July Fourth, the state averaged 3,324 first doses per day. That climbed 4% the next week, 27% the week of July 18 and 61% at the end of the month.

By the first week of August, the first-dose daily average had jumped 65% compared to a month previously, according to data provided last week by the state Department of Public Health and Environment.

That brings Colorado into a national trend of improved vaccine administration, as the state and nation struggle against spiking COVID-19 cases.

The vaccination rate increase coincided with the state’s incentive programs and the growing presence of the delta variant, which has triggered a spike in cases and hospitalizations statewide.

Gov. Jared Polis’s first two incentive programs — a $1 million cash giveaway to five Colorado adults and 25 $50,000 scholarships to high school students — wound down by the second week of July, which led to a slight uptick in vaccinations.

He then announced the next part: $100 Walmart gift cards to anyone who’s vaccinated at certain locations statewide, plus more scholarships.

The gift card promotion is ongoing.

Beginning in mid-July and picking up pace throughout the month, the delta variant became more dominant across the state and nation. It has led to the first sustained spike in cases and hospitalizations in Colorado since the fourth pandemic wave ended in the spring.

As of Friday afternoon, the state averaged more than 1,000 new cases each day over the past week. That’s the first time it’s crossed that threshold since mid-May.

The incentive program and the spike in delta cases contributed to the increase, a state health department spokesman said late last week.

The improved first-dose vaccination rates are also a reversal of a weeks-long trend. Since April, the statewide vaccination rate has plummeted.

Polis and other state health officials say that’s because many of the residents motivated to receive it have done so, and the remaining pool of hesitant-but-willing residents is dwindling.

As of Friday evening, 72% of Colorado’s eligible residents — those 12 years old and older — have received at least one dose. Nearly 66% are fully inoculated.