66.4% of New Covid Infections Are Among the Vaccinated in Los Angeles County

December 30, 2021 - New numbers released by the Los Angeles County Health Department show that vaccinations are providing ever decreasing protection from infection by Covid-19. Of the new cases identified since November 27, 66.4% were in fully vaccinated individuals. The percent of the county population fully vaccinated is 68.5%. Therefore, vaccines appear to give only marginal protection from infection compared to no vaccine.

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health, was unable to answer a question at the press conference about how many of this week's cases, which are in the tens of thousands, included vaccinated individuals.

The latest numbers released during a press conference today and on the county website are:

Total population of LA County: 10,014,009

Total number fully vaccinated: 6,862,365

Total Covid infections: 1,595,239

Fully vaccinated Covid infections: 127,172

Total Covid deaths: 27,533

Fully vaccinated Covid deaths: 602

While vaccines do not appear to protect very well against infection, the county's most recent data shows they remain protective against death. The case fatality rate for a fully vaccinated individual in the county is .473% as opposed to a case fatality rate of 1.83% for unvaccinated individuals. The CFR for the vaccinated is actually lower this month than last month, when it stood at .63%. This may be because of the lag between the cases, which rose sharply this month, and subsequent possible serious illness and death.

That's the news.

Here's the attitude.

When county health officials try to bury and suppress data regarding the inefficacy of vaccines in preventing infections it leads to distrust in the public. It is clear that health officials are aware of the situation, since they've been requiring the vaccinated to mask indoors since last summer, and they are suggesting everyone test for Covid, regardless of vaccination status, when about to, or after, intermingling with others. But they don't want to come out and say so. It was clear, listening to Dr. Ferrer speak today, that she measures her professional success by the number of people in the county who get vaccinated and, where eligible, boosted. No other metric. She doesn't want to say anything that might dissuade people from taking the shot. (Or shots, plural, rather)

In no part of today's conference or on any of the county's websites do they track deaths or hospitalizations occurring from the vaccines. It is disingenuous to pretend such do not exist in a county of 10 million people, almost 7 million of whom have received multiple shots. Never do health officials weigh the risks of booster shots against the very small marginal gain in preventing infection. For that matter, they don't weigh the risks of vaccination against the risk of death in low-risk individuals, such as children and young adults. Since such risks are well-documented, it is patronizing and insulting to the intelligence of the public they serve for county health officials to dismiss entirely cost to benefit ratios that should be considered. Perhaps the answer will turn out to be it is still beneficial to get vaccinated or boosted.

But they should prove it rather than demanding an increasingly exhausted and skeptical public to take their word for it.