LA County offers third booster dose of COVID vaccine to people with weakened immune systems • Long Beach Post News

Those eligible for booster injections include organ transplant recipients, people undergoing cancer treatment, HIV-positive patients, and people on certain “immunosuppressive drugs”.

The Los Angeles County Public Health Department has urged people to see their doctors to confirm their eligibility for the third injection, which should be given at least 28 days after the second dose.

Third doses are offered at county vaccination sites offering Pfizer and Moderna injections. People looking for injections will simply be able to “self-certify” that they have a qualifying medical condition.

“Studies have shown that people who are immunocompromised are more likely to have a post-vaccination infection and become seriously ill from COVID-19,” said county public health director Barbara Ferrer. “An extra dose of the vaccine for some people with weakened immune systems could help prevent serious illness and death.

“If you have a qualifying condition, we encourage you to talk to your health care provider about getting a third dose,” she said. “We also encourage those who are in close contact with people who are immunocompromised to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect family members and friends who are at greater risk. “

The booster injections received final approval this week from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, the county has seen an increase in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 after two consecutive days of minor decreases. There were 1,650 patients in the county with COVID-19 on Saturday, up from 1,627 the day before. Of those patients, 400 were in intensive care, an increase from the 381 reported on Friday, according to state figures.

County figures show the vast majority of people hospitalized with COVID are not vaccinated. During the month of July, vaccinated residents represented only 13% of people hospitalized with the virus.

Los Angeles County reported 19 more deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, as well as 3,810 more infections. The new deaths brought the total number of deaths from the virus in the county to 24,872, while the cumulative number of cases throughout the pandemic rose to 1,342,839.

The county continues to report good news in terms of the percentage of people who test positive for the virus. On Friday, the average daily sliding rate was 4.1%, down from more than 6% just two weeks ago.

Ferrer said the county should expect to see a high number of new infections every day, given new testing requirements imposed on many businesses and schools. But she said the test positivity rate would hopefully remain low.

Ferrer continued to emphasize the effectiveness of vaccines, noting that while some fully vaccinated people can still be infected with COVID, they are much less likely to become seriously ill.

Of the 5.1 million people vaccinated in the county as of Aug. 10, 21,532 have tested positive for COVID-19, for a rate of 0.42%. A total of 549 fully vaccinated people were hospitalized, for a rate of 0.01%, and 55 died, for a rate of 0.0011%.

As of August 8, 72% of eligible county residents aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 63% are fully immunized. Of the county’s overall population of around 10.3 million people, including over one million people ineligible for vaccines because they are under the age of 12, 62% have received at least one dose and 54% are fully vaccinated.

Ferrer said statistics show unvaccinated people are 3.6 times more likely to be infected with COVID than vaccinated people.

COVID-19 Hospitalizations Rise in LA County, Long Beach