20% of COVID infections in June were among those vaccinated, according to LA County Health

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A relentless wave of COVID-19 cases continued in Los Angeles County Thursday as 2,700 more cases were reported, with the percentage of infections occurring among fully vaccinated residents steadily increasing.

In fact, during the month of June, 20% of all new COVID infections reported in the county occurred in people who had been fully vaccinated. This was up from 11% in May and 5% in April. But public health director Barbara Ferrer said the increase is normal given the continued rise in the number of people fully vaccinated.

She also pointed out that fully vaccinated people who are infected usually have extremely mild cases – a benefit that vaccines have always promised.

“Very few of them have been hospitalized, and an even smaller number have died,” Ferrer said. “So yes, if you are fully vaccinated you get great protection, which is what vaccines have always been best at – – protecting people from serious illness and death. And these vaccines, even with the Delta variant. , resist very well. ”

She said that the fact that fully vaccinated people are always infected should not be seen as ineffective vaccines and should not be used as an excuse to avoid getting the vaccine.

“While seat belts don’t prevent all of the bad things that can happen in a car crash, they provide great protection, so much so that we all use them regularly,” she said. “It wouldn’t really make sense not to use a seat belt just because it doesn’t prevent all injuries from car crashes. Dismiss a COVID vaccine because it doesn’t offer protection 100% really ignores the powerful benefits we have felt from the people who have been vaccinated. ”

She noted that when the vaccination program began, the main benefit cited was their ability to prevent people from ending up hospitalized or dying from the virus. With the county seeing an increase in infections – the vast majority among those who are not vaccinated – infections are expected to occur among those who have received the vaccines. And she noted that without vaccines, the number of infections would be much higher.

“When we looked at this, vaccines really promised us they would prevent disease and death, and there were big question marks over how many fully vaccinated people would be prevented from contracting the virus. “said Ferrer. “There is still so much. Protection for people who are fully vaccinated, especially compared to those who have no protection because they are not vaccinated.”

According to the county, of about 4.85 million fully vaccinated residents from Jan.19 to Tuesday, 6,520 have tested positive for the virus, for a rate of 0.13%. This is up from a rate of 0.09% last week.

Of those fully vaccinated during that period who tested positive, only 287 were hospitalized, a rate of 0.0059% of the vaccinated population, up from 0.0045% last week. There were 30 vaccinated people who died, a rate of 0.0006%.

The most recent figures provided by the county on Thursday show that 5.3 million of the county’s estimated 10.3 million people are fully immunized, a rate of around 52%. About 1.3 million people in the county are not eligible for the shootings because they are under 12 years old.