Shifts in COVID-19 Case Rates May Indicate Winter Surge; Public Health Recommends Updated Fall COVID-19 Booster Now

For the past month, Los Angeles County has been noting signals that the COVID-19 case rate may no longer be declining locally. The steady decline observed since July appeared to plateau in mid-October. This week, LA County is reporting a nearly 10% increase in the 7-day-average case from one week ago. Careful monitoring of case rates, as well as the LA County Early Alert signals, will continue to help LA County prepare for a potential COVID-19 surge this winter fueled by more infectious variants.

While Omicron BA.5 continues to be the dominant subvariant, each week it is accounting for a smaller proportion of samples. As of the week ending Oct. 15, it accounted for abou 72% of sequenced specimens. BF.7, a descendant of BA.5, makes up the second largest proportion of cases sequenced at 7.8%.

Recently, Public Health added two additional descendant strains of BA.5 to weekly variant reporting: BQ.1 and BQ.1.1. Each of these sublineages account for 3.4% of sequenced specimens for the week ending Oct. 15.

However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC estimates that as of about two weeks ago, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 combined, accounted for nearly 17% of cases across the country, up considerably from about 9% the week before. There are reports that BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 have some growth advantages over some of the other sublineages, and they may begin to increase here as well.

One thing that everyone can do to prepare is to make sure they have the updated COVID-19 Fall bivalent booster, available for people five years and older. A bivalent booster that can protect against both the original virus that causes COVID-19 and the more recently spreading Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. These two subvariants are different, but they have the same spike protein, and the new Fall bivalent booster offers protection against both. The bivalent booster is also expected to provide protection against the BQ strains.

These updated Fall COVID-19 boosters, plus flu vaccines, are readily available at Public Health sites, pharmacies, and other locations across the county. Seniors and residents who can’t easily leave their home can contact Public Health telehealth services at 833-540-0473, seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Details: www.VaccinateLACounty.com  and  http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov