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New statewide data in California shows that areas with above-average vaccination rates are seeing an increase in coronavirus infections while areas with below-average vaccination rates are seeing a decrease.
The puzzling trend comes as elected officials and health experts across the country aggressively encourage unvaccinated people to get immunized against the virus.
KOVR-TV reported on Monday that “a new analysis reveals that several counties with above-average vaccination rates also have higher COVID case rates, while case rates are declining in counties with higher than average vaccination rates. vaccination below average “. Here are more excerpts from the report:
Statewide data analyzed by the Bay Area News Group found that five counties, Los Angeles, San Diego, Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco, both have a higher percentage of people fully vaccinated than state average and a higher average daily case rate. .
Compare that to those five counties: Modoc, Glenn, Lassen, Del Norte, and San Benito, which have below-average vaccination rates and declining case rates.
While health experts are well aware that the news is puzzling, they insist that it is not proof that vaccinations are counterproductive. On the contrary, they suggest that the population density and contagiousness of the Delta variant may be reasons for the trend.
“There are a number of issues that contribute to transmission,” said Dr. Stephen Luby, an infectious disease expert at Stanford University, according to Mercury News. “In high-density urban settings, for example, even with a higher level of vaccine coverage, there can still be a lot of exposure to unvaccinated people and potentially to people who are vaccinated but asymptomatically lose the Delta variant. “
Higher COVID rate found in counties with higher vaccination rate
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Likewise, Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, professor of epidemiology at the University of California-San Francisco, argued that while vaccines are effective in boosting the body’s immune response, they are not impenetrable shields.
“The best and most waterproof raincoat is protective, but not when it’s stormy outside or you’re in the middle of a hurricane,” she noted.
His colleague, UCSF infectious disease expert Dr Philip Norris, told KOVR that in densely populated areas, vaccinated people can even pass the disease on to others without knowing it.
Norris pointed to a Chinese study indicating that the Delta variant can have a viral load up to 1,000 times higher than previous variants.
“If so, even a little in someone who is vaccinated could be a lot,” he added.
Whether the explanations are plausible or not, the news out of California will certainly serve as a warning amid the nationwide vaccination campaign.
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