Jump in LA cases Omicron heightens alarm on unvaccinated

After another sharp rise in confirmed cases of Omicron in Los Angeles County, Authorities are again urging residents to get vaccinated and step up in hopes of easing a possible winter wave.

Numbers

LA County confirmed 60 new cases of the highly mutated variant on Monday. This exceeds the total of 49 confirmed cases of Omicron that were reported statewide to the California Department of Public Health on Wednesday.

“Given the growing number of cases, the high rate of community transmission and all the evidence that over time our immune system needs a boost to be able to attack the COVID virus, no one eligible should delay getting her booster dose, “County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement.

According to modeling the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Omicron represented an estimate 73% of new infections nationwide last week.

Considering the ease with which Omicron spreads – to the point that it is apparently surpassing even the hyper-transmissible Delta variant – officials say it is vital for residents to make sure they are as protected as possible.

“The evidence is mounting that for people vaccinated months ago, boosters are needed to provide the best defense against infection and transmission of the Omicron variant,” Ferrer said. “The vaccines also continue to provide excellent protection against the Delta variant. “

Vaccine surge

The LA County Department of Public Health released a bulletin on Monday for healthcare providers to push for vaccinations.

“The Omicron variant is a serious threat locally and globally given its increased infectivity, potential immune evasion and resistance to certain treatments,” the bulletin states. “Providers are urged to contact their patients and strongly encourage them to be fully immunized (if they are 5 years of age or older) and to receive their booster dose when from (if they are 16 and over) to protect them from serious illnesses caused by COVID-19 and to mitigate the spread in the community. “

According to latest status data, Unvaccinated Californians are seven times more likely to contract COVID-19, 13 times more likely to require hospitalization, and 16 times more likely to die from the disease.

“With the combination of colder weather keeping people indoors, the decline of the vaccine and natural immunity, and more mixing among family members, public health officials are urging Californians to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible to help prevent a possible winter wave in COVID-19 cases, ”the California Department of Public Health wrote in a report Monday.

Immunization levels

According to the Times‘vaccine tracker, 73.9% of Californians have received at least one dose so far. In LA County, the number is 75.4%.

Experts say immunization levels could play a big role in how certain regions are hit hard by the Omicron wave.

The San Francisco Bay Area has some of the highest vaccination rates in the state, and officials believe it could help slow the spread of Omicron. But experts are especially nervous about places with low vaccination rates, including the Inland Empire and the San Joaquin Valley. LA and Orange counties, which have vaccination rates somewhere in between, may see an impact fall in the middle.

One possibility is that the Bay Area will see a relatively small increase in hospitalizations, LA County an average peak and Central Valley the largest increase, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UC. San Francisco.

Los Angeles County’s vaccination numbers in communities of color are now significantly lower than in several Bay Area counties including San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Clara, despite what LA area officials describe like aggressive outreach in black and Latino neighborhoods.