Wave, Delta and COVID-19 Death That Occurred Despite Vaccination – Redheaded Blackbelt

Yesterday, August 6, 2021, Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr Andy Coren hosted the bi-monthly COVID-19 update for residents and local media. During the press conference, Dr Coren provided the data that supported his decision to restore universal masking in Mendocino County, went into details regarding post-vaccine infections among residents and discussed the conditions that could result in school, recreation and business closures.

Dr Coren compared Mendocino County’s current rate of COVID-19 cases to the outbreak last winter. To illustrate the recent increase in cases, Dr Coren said that Mendocino County’s average daily case rate per 100,000 people throughout the month of April rose from 2 to 14.6. Last week that number was 21.4 / day and Dr Coren suspected this week will be 30 cases / day.

The overwhelming majority of these recent cases are with unvaccinated members of the community, explained Dr Coren. The incidence of illness, hospitalization and death when comparing the vaccinated and the unvaccinated is significant. Dr Coren provided data which showed that there is an eight-fold difference in the incidence of the disease in cases between people who have been vaccinated compared to unvaccinated people, a 25-fold increase in vaccinated versus unvaccinated people, and suggested in cases of deaths from COVID-19, there are probably more than 25 times more between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations.

Dr Coren confirmed that the Delta variant was detected among COVID-19 cases in Mendocino County, but did not provide a specific number of Delta occurrences among residents. He added that it took “a long time” to obtain information from laboratories outside the country regarding whole genome sequencing.

Regarding the “breakthrough cases”, Dr Coren provided both Mendocino County specific data and an update on terminology by referring to what is more accurately dubbed “post-vaccine infections”.

Turning to the language used to describe these post-vaccine infections, Dr Coren said that medical professionals “are trying to move away from the revolutionary concept” because it could suggest that the vaccines are not working. In fact, even those who have gone through these circumstances requiring hospitalization are less likely to develop symptoms or succumb to the virus. The language he proposed to replace the “revolutionary” terminology was “post-vaccination infections”.

Dr Coren revealed that one of the recent deaths from COVID-19 in Mendocino County was one of those post-vaccination infections. Providing more details, he said the individuals had been vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and had significant co-morbidities which more than likely contributed to their vulnerability to the virus.

On Tuesday, August 3, Dr Coren presented the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors with data demonstrating the county’s recent increase and, in light of the increase in cases, proposed a universal return of indoor masking in County of Mendocino. The supervisory board approved the request.

During this presentation, Dr Coren said: “The real consequence of our failure is the possibility of having to close schools, recreation and businesses again, as well as seeing an increase in illness and death.”

When asked to clarify what type of information would inform public health’s decision to close schools again, Dr Coren began by saying that he would report to the California Department of Public Health and the Center for Disease. Control to make this type of decision.

Regarding school closings, Dr Coren said that last year public health officials learned that closing schools was “much worse” than opening them. Public health officials found, “There hasn’t been as much transmission in schools or disease because of it in the past and I hope that doesn’t change like we are doing this year.”

Factors that optimize the safety of school sites include general vaccination of teachers, the institution of universal indoor masking at these school sites, and regular testing for students and staff.

Dr Coren said school closures could be considered in the event of major outbreaks in multiple sites or classes of schools.

In his final words to the Mendocino County public, Dr Coren stressed that the best prevention for other infections is vaccination. He said: “We don’t want to be tough on how to control this infection,” adding, “I hope we get through this without major shutdowns in business, recreation or school. We will move forward together.