The California coast welcomes children’s COVID shots.I don’t do inland

In California, early demand for COVID-19 vaccines for young children is surprisingly uneven, with some regions accepting shots and others much slower, Times data analysis finds. bottom.

This is a pattern of concern to experts and can have serious implications for how the winter outbreak of coronavirus spreads to different parts of the state.

In San Francisco, 30% of people aged 5 to 11 have been vaccinated once since the vaccination for that age group was approved three weeks ago. In Santa Clara County, home of Silicon Valley, this figure is 28%, and in Marine County, which was once a hotbed of anti-vaccination sentiment, it’s a staggering 46%, according to a Times analysis of state data.

These rates are well above 12% nationwide and 13% nationwide. Los Angeles County and Orange County report that 12% of children in this age group are partially vaccinated. San Diego County reports 13% and Ventura County reports 10%.

Still, childhood vaccines are delayed in inland California, at 5% in San Bernardino and Kern, 6% in Riverside, and 7% in Fresno.

“In a sense, high levels of vaccination rates between the ages of 5 and 11 are an alternative to receiving vaccines at all ages,” said UCLA epidemiologist Dr. Robert Kim Farley.

In general, the regions of California with the slowest vaccination rates, namely the countryside of Northern California and the Central Valley, are the regions with the highest COVID-19 hospitalization rates.

“There is a surge in winter,” said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. “I’m most worried about the Central Valley, which is more rural in California, where vaccination rates are lower than in other parts of the state and infection rates are currently higher.”

The outlook for the San Francisco Bay Area, which has the highest vaccination rate and the lowest COVID-19 hospitalization rate in the state, is the most optimistic.

“In some parts of California, where vaccination rates are high, we can fully expect the winter surge to slow further. We may avoid it. It may not be possible. It is at a lower level. I think it will be, “Razaford said.

The future of Southern California coastal counties is less clear. In addition to vaccination levels, naturally acquired immunity from last winter’s surge could leave Southern California’s largest metropolitan area “reasonably protected,” Rutherford said. Stated.

In diverse regions such as Los Angeles County, there are likely to be regions with different COVID-19 vaccination rates, said Dr. Karsten Bibin’s Domingo, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. increase.

“Ultimately, the vaccination rate experience is very local, and how it works — maybe the two extreme averages of the Bay Area and the San Joaquin Valley, but probably more. [likely], Some communities are actually much more protected, and some communities can show significantly higher infection rates, especially when on vacation, “Bibins-Domingo said.

The Inland Empire already suffers from COVID-19 hospitalization rates that are significantly worse than counties along the Southern California coast. Riverside County has twice the COVID-19 hospitalization rate as LA County, and San Bernardino County has three times the hospitalization rate. In San Bernardino, the number of cases per day has increased by about 34% since mid-October.

In San Bernardino and Riverside counties, less than 55% of residents of all ages are fully vaccinated, while in LA and Orange counties about 65% and in Bay Area counties more than 75%.

“They are in a much worse position during the winter and holiday seasons because of the relatively low vaccination rates in all age groups, not just 5 to 11 years old,” said Kim Farley.

Infected children may play an important role in the spread of delta variants of the coronavirus. Recently, children aged 5 to 11 years may have the highest cases of coronavirus among all pediatric groups in Los Angeles County and Orange County. Not only are young children at risk of getting sick themselves, but they can also infect older relatives with the virus.

Nationally, new weekly coronavirus cases among children of all ages increased by about 32% from the beginning of the month, with more than 140,000 children confirmed infected in the seven days ending Thursday. Did. according to To the analysis by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Assn. Children now account for 25% of the reported new cases in the country.

Epidemiologists have pointed out that children are less likely to get a serious illness from COVID-19 than adults, but vaccination is still important. The number of 5-11 year olds who died of COVID-19 in a year — 66 — corresponds to COVID-19 as the eighth leading cause of death in its age range.

Some doctors are also worried about the potential long-term effects of COVID in children, such as increased incidence of depression and anxiety, difficulty concentrating on school, or long-term headaches. Children are also at a rare risk of developing a multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19, which can lead to serious illness and death.

“Vaccination of children is an important part of expanding the scope of overall vaccination and limiting infection,” Rutherford said. “High vaccination is the same as low infection. Low vaccination produces high infection.”

According to Bibin’s Domingo, authorities need to be aware that it can be more difficult for people in low-income areas to get the COVID-19 vaccine for children.

“Looking at the Central Valley, do you have the aggressive hesitation and the resources to reach all the communities in those areas? … How effective is it to vaccinate all the communities you need? ? “She said.

LA county officials are concerned that black and Latino people aged 5 to 11 years and people in low-income households are less likely to be vaccinated.

The LA County Public Health Service said Tuesday that white children are three times more likely to be vaccinated than black and Latin children. By November 14, 13% of whites, 14% of Asian Americans, and 12% of Native American children in this age group were shot, but by November 14, 4% of blacks and Latin American children. Only 3% of them were shot.

Children in this age group, who live in the poorest areas, are vaccinated in one-third of the children in the wealthy community: 3.9% vs. 12.5%.

“If there is a pediatric vaccination gap that puts black and Latin children at higher risk when infections increase, we can once again see the situation in which these communities suffer most during the surge,” Los Angeles. Barbara Ferrer, director of the county public health department, said. Tuesday’s statement.

Last week, Feller said the vaccination gap was “the safety of pediatric vaccines by parents getting enough information, answering questions, and knowing where to go to get their children vaccinated. It shows the need to “build confidence in effectiveness.” Feller said.

Los Angeles County is working to improve access to vaccines for children in difficult areas, Feller said. As of last week, there were more than 700 sites across the county taking doses from ages 5 to 11. It is expected that hundreds more will begin to do so in the coming weeks.

There is good reason for many experts to expect a winter surge to hit California.

Nationally, new daily coronavirus cases have increased by 30% from about 72,000 to 94,000 in the past month. Hospitalization with COVID-19 has increased by 15% in the last two weeks.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Consider California has the second worst category of “substantial” community infections on a four-stage scale.

In California, both weekly case rates and hospitalization rates increased in late October. However, in the last two weeks, both numbers have decreased.

Still, the state has leveled off at a relatively high rate. The number of reported daily cases is more than four times that of mid-June. The state has reopened its economy Removed pandemic-related restrictions on public spaces. Hospitalization with COVID-19 is now three times what the state was experiencing at the time.

Signs of warning are also evident in other states where the coronavirus is rampaging again. The overall immunization rate in California is about the same as in Colorado, Minnesota, and New Mexico. All of these are experiencing surges and congestion in hospitals.

“63% of us are great, but not enough,” Rutherford said of California’s vaccination coverage.

In Fresno County, hospitals are constantly running over capacity and ambulances are forced to idle outside the hospital before dropping patients into a full emergency room.

“There aren’t enough hospitals to meet the population and needs,” said Dr. Rais Vohra, Interim Health Officer in Fresno County.

Times staff writers Sean Greene and Thomas Suh Lauder contributed to this report.