Vaccinated People Remain Well Protected from Severe COVID-19 Illness; LA County to Align with State on Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Workers

As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to increase, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health or Public Health highlights data showing that vaccinated people remain exceptionally well protected from severe COVID-19 illness.

There are 1,503 people with COVID-19 hospitalized and 23% of these people are in the ICU. In late July, about 94 people newly admitted to a hospital each day were positive for COVID-19; of these 88%, were unvaccinated. 

Among the more than 5.1 million fully vaccinated people in L.A. County, Public Health identified less than 1% or 15,628 people fully vaccinated who tested positive for COVID-19 as of August 3. Of those who tested positive, 446 were hospitalized. This translates to 0.009% of all fully vaccinated people ending up hospitalized. Deaths in this group are also very low at 0.0008%, representing 41 people fully vaccinated that tragically passed away.

This compelling evidence shows that fully vaccinated people remain at low risk for becoming infected and even lower risk for having a bad outcome if they are infected.

Now is a particularly critical time to increase vaccination uptake given the high level of community transmission.

Healthcare workers have been among the County’s highest-risk populations for COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the pandemic. As PPE became more widely available and vaccinations increased among healthcare workers, their infection rates declined earlier this year. 

However, the county is now seeing transmission rise in this group: Between July 25 and July 31, 268 healthcare workers and first responders tested positive for COVID-19.  

Healthcare workers are not uniformly vaccinated. 

While consistent use of respirators and PPE reduces the likelihood of transmission within healthcare settings, unvaccinated workers are still at higher risk for being infected in their communities when community transmission is high. 

Because many healthcare workers have close contact with very vulnerable patients, it is therefore particularly important to prevent infection in healthcare workers: the better protected they are, the safer it is for the vulnerable people they care for, and the easier it is to ensure that healthcare facilities are able to remain fully staffed during the pandemic. 

Given these factors Los Angeles county will issue a Health Officer Order to align with State orders that mandate vaccinations for healthcare workers by Sept. 30. The county order will also include emergency medical technicians and paramedics, home healthcare workers, and dental practice employees. In the coming weeks, the county will work with healthcare and labor partners to develop an effective education and implementation strategy.

Public Health confirmed Aug. 10, 22 new deaths and 2,622 new cases of COVID-19. Of the 22 new deaths reported today, five people who passed away were over the age of 80, five people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, five people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, five people died were between the ages of 30 and 49, and two people who died were between the ages of 18 and 29. To date, Public Health identified 1,331,859 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 24,805 deaths.

Anyone 12 and older living or working in L.A. County can get vaccinated against COVID-19. To find a vaccination site near you, make an appointment at vaccination sites, and much more, visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish).

Details: www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.