County public health officials are renewing their call for San Diegans to get vaccinated and protect themselves against COVID-19 as the colder months approach. Historically, respiratory illnesses increase during the fall and winter as many people move their activities and gatherings indoors.
Recent local data shows the value of COVID-19 vaccines, highlighting that those who are vaccinated and boosted are substantially less likely to die from COVID-19 complications.
In the first seven months of this year, from January 1 to July 31, 912 San Diegans have died of COVID-19. Of those 912, 498 people did not complete the primary series of any of the available COVID-19 vaccines. A total of 42 people had received only one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and the other 456 people had received no dose of any type of vaccine. People considered unvaccinated accounted for 54 percent of the total deaths.
Of the remaining deaths, 281 completed the primary series and 133 also received an additional booster dose. Eighty percent of the 3.3 million San Diegans six months of age and older have completed the primary series. Two injections of these vaccines are needed to complete the primary series and be considered fully vaccinated.
For the period between August 14 and September 10 of this year, the most recent period for which complete statistics are available, the death rate for San Diegans who did not complete the primary vaccine series was 0.94 per million residents. This mortality rate is five times that of those who completed the primary series and received a booster (0.18 per million county residents).
“Vaccination remains the best way to prevent serious outcomes and death from COVID-19,” said Dr. Cameron Kaiser, the county’s deputy public health director. “We are especially encouraging those eligible to get the new bivalent booster as it is specifically designed to protect people from the variants of the virus currently circulating in our community. These variants and their relatives are expected to be with us during the holidays.”
In addition to vaccination, there are a number of precautions San Diegans can take to protect themselves against COVID-19, as well as seasonal illnesses like the flu. These measures include:
- Clean your hands thoroughly and often;
- Stay away from sick people;
- Stay home and avoid contact with other people when you are sick;
- Wear a properly fitting face covering when around other people, especially in crowded indoor settings; Y
- Regularly clean frequently touched surfaces.
Bivalent boosters for children 5 years and older
The California Department of Public Health has updated its updated COVID-19 booster emergency use authorization in California to include younger children. Eligibility for the Moderna bivalent booster now extends to persons 6 years of age and older and eligibility for the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent booster now extends to persons 5 years of age and older.
Boosters will be available through participating healthcare providers and pharmacies. Parents must visit the state’s My Turn website to schedule an appointment.
San Diego County Public Health Services expects to receive the children’s boosters in the next few days and anticipates being able to begin administering them as soon as Saturday at select locations. Booster dose availability will be listed on the county’s COVID-19 website.
The updated braces were designed to protect people from the worst outcomes of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death. All individuals over the age of 5 who have received their primary series of vaccines are eligible to receive the catch-up booster two months after any COVID vaccine or booster dose.
Vaccination progress:
- About 2.69 million or 80.4% of San Diegans received the primary series of one of the approved COVID-19 vaccines.
- Boosts Administered: 1,473,096 or 59.8% of 2,465,357 eligible San Diegans.
- More information on immunizations can be found at coronavirus-sd.com/vaccine.
Deceased:
- Nine additional deaths have been reported since the last report on October 6, 2022. The total for the region is 5,507.
- Of the nine additional deaths, four were women and five were men. They died between September 25, 2022 and October 2, 2022.
- Five of the people who died were 80 years old or older, three were 70 years old and one was 60 years old.
- Six were fully vaccinated and three were unvaccinated.
- Eight had underlying medical conditions and one had pending medical conditions.
Cases, case rates and tests:
- 1,855 cases of COVID-19 were reported to the County in the last seven days (October 4 to October 10, 2022). The total for the region is now 926,364.
- The 1,855 cases reported last week were slightly lower than the 2,284 infections identified the previous week (from September 27 to October 3, 2022).
- The San Diego County case rate per 100,000 residents 12 years of age and older is 11.01 for fully vaccinated and boosted individuals, 6.08 for fully vaccinated individuals, and 22.65 for San Diegans not They are fully vaccinated.
- There were 5,003 tests reported to the county on October 8 and the percentage of new positive cases was 4.1% (data through October 8).
- The 14-day rolling percentage of positive cases, among tests reported through October 8, is 4.2%.
More information:
data updates from the County website coronavirus-sd.com It will be published on Thursdays around 5:00 p.m., except for holidays.
