Vaccines are likely beginning to reduce the spread of coronavirus in LA County: Health Director

Los Angeles County still has a long way to go to establish herd immunity, but the region is beginning to see evidence that increasing COVID-19 vaccination is beginning to help control infection, said the county. The director of health said on Monday.

Since the beginning of 2021, the number of new infections has been declining weekly, following an unprecedented winter surge. At the same time, more and more people were vaccinated throughout the county.

Nursing homes and hospitals, the first environment in which people were targeted for doses, have seen a significant reduction in the number of people infected, according to Barbara Ferrer, director of public health in LA County.

“In a skilled care facility, there is no surge like in April, May and June. Vaccinations are done there,” Ferrer said. “We already have a lot of evidence of how effective they are in that setting.”

Feller also noted that the number of infected healthcare workers has been “significantly reduced.”

“I think this is good news. Many people have been vaccinated and the infection rate is much lower,” she added.

As of March 17, 3.2 million COVID-19 vaccine dose It has been administered within the county, of which more than 1 million are the second dose.

Feller said there is ample evidence that vaccination really protects people “at the moment.” But the question remains. “How long are they going to protect us? And how far is that protection? And how much does that protection hold perfectly for any transmission?”

These questions arise in part from concerns about the more contagious coronavirus variants found in the county, including self-cultivated variants.

Feller emphasized evidence that the vaccine is beginning to suppress the spread of the virus, but at the same time there are concerns that infection rates are rising.

According to Dr. Christina Garry, director of health services, the number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 continues to decline daily, but is now declining at a much slower rate than before, which is a small rate of infection. Reflects the increase. ..

Of the county model According to Ghaly, the recently calculated transmission rate is 0.93, which is higher than last week’s estimate of 0.87.

“We’ll see what this really means over time. We don’t have enough information yet to know if this will lead to an increase in infection, but we all need to stay vigilant,” Ghaly said. Mr. says.

Garry said the numbers could have increased for a variety of reasons, including more people going out and mixing with others.

“I think the message is that we need to remember that vaccinations have clearly not reached the entire population of Los Angeles County. We want them to be available as soon as they are available. , And we are working to resolve it as soon as possible, “Ghaly said.

The pace of vaccination is accelerating throughout the state, in California Record setting The number of doses given last week. According to the state, Los Angeles, the state’s most populous county, gives the highest doses. data..

But still, vaccine supply remains a problem.

Over 633,000 booking slots were available in LA County this week, but only enough doses to book 280,000.

“We hope that supply will increase in the coming weeks and more people will be vaccinated,” Feller said.

The county expects to receive another 280,000 vaccinations this week, and it was expected that supply would increase in the coming weeks as the county began receiving large doses of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

correction: Earlier versions of this story mistakenly stated that 3.2 million people were vaccinated in Los Angeles County, but it should have been said that it was the number of doses administered. Also, the date the number was achieved was incorrect. The post has been updated.