By LILY TINOCO | Reporter
The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved an additional dose of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for immunocompromised individuals.
County of Los Angeles Public Health began administering third doses to those who are eligible on Saturday, August 14.
The FDA amended the Emergency Use Authorization for vaccines to allow for a third dose, which can be administered at least 28 days after the second dose of the vaccine, according to Public Health. Public Health encouraged individuals who have qualifying conditions, including organ transplant recipients, people undergoing cancer treatment and those on certain immunosuppressive medications, to speak to their healthcare provider about getting a third dose.
It is recommended that individuals receiving their COVID-19 vaccine booster dose be vaccinated with the same vaccine they received for the first and second dose: Pfizer or Moderna. A follow-up dose is not currently recommended for those who have received a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The announcement comes after recent reports of high rates of community transmission across LA, including post-vaccination infections. According to Public Health, the Delta variant now accounts for nearly all the COVID-19 strains seen among samples in the county. The Delta variant is reportedly more transmissible between people.
Being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 lowers the risk of infection and more significantly lowers the chance of hospitalization or death, according to Public Health: “Data provides significant reassurance that fully vaccinated people remain at relatively low risk for becoming infected with COVID-19 and even lower risk for having a bad outcome if they are infected.”
“Infection rates show that unvaccinated people are almost four times more likely to get infected with COVID-19; the case rate for unvaccinated individuals is 243 cases per 100,000 people while the case rate for fully vaccinated people is 66 cases per 100,000 people,” according to Public Health. “Vaccinated people are about 14 times less likely to be hospitalized than their unvaccinated or partially vaccinated counterparts; the hospitalization rate for fully vaccinated people is slightly less than one hospitalization per 100,000 people. And almost no fully vaccinated people are dying from COVID.”
As of Thursday, August 12, over 11 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered to people across LA County. To date, 82% of Pacific Palisades and 80.4% of Palisades Highlands residents have gotten at least one shot, according to data from Public Health.
According to a representative at Caruso, Palisades Village began requiring staff to be vaccinated, effective Friday, August 6.
Anyone 12 and older living or working throughout LA County is eligible to get vaccinated at county-run vaccination sites, LA City sites, and St. John’s Well Child and Family Center sites. To find a vaccination site or make an appointment, visit vaccinateLAcounty.com.
As the Post went to print Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 had reached 1,352,791 across the county when factoring in Long Beach and Pasadena, with 24,905 deaths. The county’s daily test positivity rate is 3.5%.
Pacific Palisades had reached 1,018 confirmed cases and 16 deaths Tuesday, with an additional 183 in Palisades Highlands and one death.
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