The launch of the COVID-19 vaccine is likely starting to reduce coronavirus transmission in Los Angeles County, the local chief public health official said this week, although he cautioned that the county still has a long way to go before immunity. collective action is achieved.
Daily coronavirus cases in LA County have steadily declined since the beginning of the new year, with the average daily positive rate of 7 days of testing now at 1.7%. Meanwhile, by March 17, about 3.2 million of the municipality’s 10 million inhabitants had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Overall, LA County administered most doses in all California counties, the data show.
Speaking to the data on Monday, LA County Director of Public Health, Barbara Ferrer, noted that the sharp decline in coronavirus infections was reported among nursing home residents and employees and health professionals, who were among the first eligible for receive the vaccine.
“In our qualified nursing facilities, we will not see an increase [as] we saw in April, May and June. The vaccinations are being kept there, “said Ferrer, according to the local news station KTLA.” We already have a lot of evidence on how effective they are in that environment. “
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“I think it is good news – lots of people vaccinated, much lower transmission rates,” she added.
Still, Ferrer and other county health officials urged caution, noting that the rate of newly hospitalized patients due to COVID-19 has declined overall, but is now decreasing at an “increasingly slower pace”.
“This decrease in the rate of deceleration reflects an increasing rate of transmission,” warned the authorities.
“Time will tell what it really means and we don’t have enough information yet to know whether it will result in an increase in infections, but we all need to remain vigilant,” said director of the Department of Health Services, Dr. Christina Ghaly.
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Officials expect an extra 280,000 doses of vaccine this week to further increase vaccinations and better prevent shortages.
In the meantime, however, “I think the message is that we just need to continue to be careful to remember that vaccination obviously didn’t reach the entire population of Los Angeles County, that we want people to get the vaccine as quickly as one is available to them, and we’re working to get it out as soon as possible, ”added Ghaly.