A NEW study released recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the new bivalent COVID-19 boosters add protection against the new variants of the virus. Another study showed that the bivalent vaccine also protects against severe disease.

Wastewater surveillance shows that those variants, XBB and XBB.1.5, make up about 25% of the virus circulating in San Diego County. The County Health and Human Services Agency continues to urge people to get vaccinated with the booster to protect themselves — particularly people who are 65 years of age and older. Those people are the group most at risk of suffering serious complications, including death, from the COVID-19 virus.

“COVID-19 virus variants are still widespread in our county and it’s important that people protect themselves by getting vaccinated if they haven’t been already,” said County Public Health Officer Wilma J. Wooten, M.D., M.P.H. “While cases, hospitalizations and deaths are decreasing, these events are still occurring in San Diego County. These new studies reinforce the data that bivalent boosters, can protect you, your family and friends from getting seriously ill or dying.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and California Department of Public Health recommend a bivalent booster for everyone six months of age and older. Previous CDC studies have reported that people who have not been vaccinated run much higher risks of dying from COVID-19 than those who have been vaccinated.

To date, more than 540,000 San Diegans have gotten vaccinated with the bivalent COVID-19 booster since it became available here in September 2022. The County Health and Human Services Agency reports that 80.5% of San Diegans — nearly 2.7 million people — got their primary COVID-19 vaccinations.

COVID-19 vaccines, including bivalent boosters, and flu vaccines are widely available at local medical providers and pharmacies. The County continues to offer vaccinations throughout the region at its vaccination sites (https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/community_epidemiology/dc/2019-nCoV/vaccines.html). Check online for the days and hours sites will be open.

Preventive measures

In addition to vaccination and staying home when ill, San Diegans can take other precautions to protect themselves against COVID-19, as well as seasonal illnesses like the flu. These measures include:

Cleaning hands thoroughly and often.
Staying away from sick people.
Wearing a facial covering, especially in crowded indoor settings.
Regularly cleaning commonly touched surfaces.
Conducting home testing when exposed or when ill. The federal government is providing free at-home COVID-19 tests available again through the winter for a limited time. Households can order one pack of four free tests through the U.S. Postal Service.  For more information about testing, go to the County of San Diego COVID-19 testing webpage.

COVID-19 vaccination progress

More than 2.69 million or 80.5% of San Diegans have received the primary series of one of the approved COVID-19 vaccines.
Bivalent boosters administered: 556,351 or 22.3% of 2,498,111 eligible San Diegans.
More vaccination information can be found at coronavirus-sd.com/vaccine.

The County Health and Human Services Agency now publishes the Respiratory Virus Surveillance Report weekly (https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/dam/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/Epidemiology/SDC_Respiratory_Virus_Surveillance_Report.pdf). The report is published each Thursday and tracks key respiratory illness indicators.

COVID-19 data

For the week ending Jan. 21, 2023, the report shows:

1,831 COVID-19 cases were reported to the County in the past seven days. The region’s total is now 974,767.
The 1,831 cases reported in the past week were lower compared to the 2,402 infections identified the previous week.
Thirteen additional deaths were reported in the week ending Jan. 21, 2023. The region’s total is 5,716.
Nine of the people who died were 65 or older.
Eight of the people had been vaccinated and five were unvaccinated or had not completed the primary vaccine series.
All thirteen had underlying medical conditions.

Influenza data

For the week ending Jan. 21, 2023, the report shows the following:

Two additional flu deaths; the season’s total is now 39.
Both had underlying medical conditions.
Emergency department visits for influenza-like illness: 3% of all visits (compared with 3% the previous week).
Lab-confirmed influenza cases for the week: 89 (compared to 158 the previous week).
Total lab-confirmed cases to date: 20,638 (compared to 1,472 at the same time last season and a 5,983 prior 5-year average during the same week).

Data updates to the County’s coronavirus-sd.com website will be published Thursdays around 5 p.m., with the exception of holidays. More information about the flu is available on the County’s influenza website (https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/immunization_branch/Vaccine_Preventable_Diseases/Seasonal_Influenza/).

(Gig Conaughton/County of San Diego Communications Office)