More than 20% of Colorado’s 5- to 11-year-olds have been at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, the state announced this week.

Pediatric doses first arrived in Colorado on Nov. 5, shortly after federal regulators cleared the way for elementary school-aged children to get the shot. As of Monday morning, more than 98,800 Coloradans in that age group had been partially vaccinated, out of more than 480,000. The state has set a goal of inoculating 50% of 5- to 11-year-olds by the end of January.

Colorado has averaged roughly 3,954 pediatric doses per day since Nov. 5. If the state maintains that pace, it will hit its end-of-January target. 

Scott Bookman, Colorado’s COVID-19 incident commander, said Tuesday that the state was eighth in the nation for vaccinating the 5 to 11 age group.

“It’s great to see so many of Colorado’s kids and parents making a common-sense decision to protect themselves against this dangerous virus by getting the safe and effective vaccine and leading other western states in the process,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement Monday evening. 

State health officials have said for weeks that, amid the latest months-long surge, school-aged children have had the highest case rates in the state. The case rate appears to have started to decline, data presented last week shows, but it remains higher than other age groups. Schools also account for the most COVID-19 outbreaks in the state.

Rachel Herlihy, Colorado’s epidemiologist, told reporters Tuesday that she expects infection rates among children to decline as pediatric vaccines continue to flow.