County Health Official Says Higher Vaccination Rates Needed To Avoid Cyclical Surges Of COVID-19
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - The top health official at the Department of Health said Friday that Los Angeles County is doing poorly when it comes to increasing the number of residents who are fully vaccinated.
"We are making very little progress increasing vaccination coverage among our residents," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County Department of Public Health Director, said. "In order to avoid the cycle of surges every few months, we do need to see a significant increase in vaccination coverage. We need to reach as many people as possible in each of the subgroups if we're to have a chance at ending this pandemic."
Ferrer also said she doesn't know when indoor mask-mandates will be lifted because the Delta variant is still highly transmissible in the county.
The County reported Friday 2,024 new cases of COVID-19, 50 additional deaths and 1,385 hospitalizations. The overall case rate per 100,000 people is down 35% from this time last week.