Bivalent Booster Against Covid is A Major Failure According to LA County Health Department Data

December 21, 2022 - In September, health officials across the United States began administering and encouraging a "bivalent booster" shot for Covid-19 that was supposed to protect against both the older variants of the virus and also against the newer BA.4 and BA.5 variants of Omicron that had become prevalent over the summer. Anyone over age 12 who had not had a booster shot within two months was eligible to receive this new injection.

Los Angeles County Health Department data showed that administration of the previous booster shots aimed at "protecting" against Covid-19 had been a massive failure. Those receiving booster shots were contracting Covid-19 at rates far higher than those who had stopped at a single-series vaccine. A June snapshot of county data showed that for those between the ages of 18-64, the boosted were catching Covid at twice the rate of the single-series recipients. For the 18-49-year-old age group, the rate of infection approached the rate suffered by the unvaccinated.

County data from the month of November - which is now three months after residents have been receiving the allegedly improved bivalent booster - shows that the boosted continue to contract Covid at a much higher rate than those who stopped at one series of vaccine. Meanwhile, there is almost no difference in hospitalization rates between the two groups and numbers too small to mention regarding death rates. In fact, hospitalization rates between the single-vaxxed and the boosted have grown closer since June, making the rollout of the bivalent vaccine look even less useful.

The booster shots have the worst effect upon those 18-29. For this age group, rate of infection among the unvaxxed was 896.5 per 100,000 people in November. Rate of infection for the boosted was nearly equivalent to the unvaxxed, at 701.8 per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, those in the age group who stopped at a single series vacccine enjoyed a rate of only 402.2 cases per 100,000 people.

Even for the older age group of 50-64 years, the case rate for those with booster shots was closer to the rate for the unvaccinated than it was to the rate of the single-vaxxed.

For the oldest age group, those over 65, booster shots still associate with higher case rates than the single-vaxxed, at 800.8 per 100,00 compared to 573.3 per 100,000.

Meanwhile, health officials continue to admonish residents to "update" their vaccines. A press release from the LA County DPH on December 16 stated that "being up to date on vaccines and the new bivalent booster provides essential protection against severe illness associated with COVID and flu."

In fact, there is virtually no difference in outcome regarding serious disease between those who update their vaccines and those who do not.