COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations rise among unvaccinated in Sonoma County

Cases of COVID-19 are rising in Sonoma County since the state opened up on June 15, and county officials said Friday most of those who have been sickened were not vaccinated against the deadly respiratory illness.

“It’s primarily a result of our mitigations relaxing,” said county spokesman Paul Gullixson. “We’ve opened up more and that’s a good thing. But the reality is we are seeing a spread among unvaccinated individuals, and that’s a growing concern.”

There is a stark divide between the number of new cases among unvaccinated and vaccinated people, county health officials pointed out during a Zoom news conference Friday. With a seven-day lag in getting results back, just two new cases per day per 100,000 residents were reported June 23 for vaccinated people compared to 12 per 100,000 residents for the unvaccinated on the same date.

The county issued a warning Friday to the unvaccinated, particularly younger people, to wear masks and avoid large gatherings over the Fourth of July weekend.

It also celebrated nearly reaching 600,000 total doses given (partial and full) and passing the 325,000 mark of residents being vaccinated with at least one dose. As of Friday, 75% of Sonoma County’s 434,000 residents age 12 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine while 67% have been fully vaccinated. The county continues to outpace the state and national averages in the rate of vaccine doses administered.

“The message is that the protections are very strong for people who are vaccinated,” Gullixson said. “We are most concerned about those who are unvaccinated.”

Those who are in the 12-35 age group who are more apt to gather in large groups most worry officials. Fifty-four percent of those 12-15 are unvaccinated, 38.5% of those 16-24 and 36% between 25-34 have not been inoculated.

It isn’t just the number of new cases that has gone up; hospitalizations have risen, too.

“We are seeing a bump up in hospitalizations,” Gullixson said. “The vast majority are individuals who had the opportunity to be vaccinated and chose not to. Most are in the 35-62 range.”

The number of patients hospitalized per day has crept up from around 14 earlier in June to 28 on June 30 and 33 on July 1. Eleven patients are also in ICUs, up from two on June 15.

“As of Wednesday, the majority of patients in the ICU were unvaccinated,” said Kate Pack, health program manager for the epidemiology team.

As far as the delta variant, a more contagious strain of COVID-19 that is becoming more widespread, the county is holding strong along with the state and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that those who are vaccinated do not have to wear masks when indoors.

“But those who are not vaccinated should be wearing their masks,” said Dr. Urmila Shende, the county’s chief vaccine expert, emphasizing “should.”

County health officials said they need to collect more data before they can say whether the delta variant is a factor in the recent increase of hospitalizations and cases.

“It’s difficult now to draw a causal rate because we are sending our samples to the CDC and the California Department of Health and we’re not getting samples back for two weeks,” said Deputy Public Health Officer Dr. Kismet Baldwin. “However, we are hoping to get our own public health labs to be able to do our own genotyping,” she said, which would increase the number of samples and cut the length of the turnaround time.

“Then we can get a truer look at our samples,” she said.

Genotyping detects small genetic differences that can lead to major changes in phenotype, including pathological changes underlying disease.

The county also reported that one man between 65 and 75 died on June 26 in the hospital. He was unvaccinated and had underlying health conditions and came to the hospital from his home.

“Now that we are in the long tail of our vaccination campaign, we want to encourage that last 25% to get vaccinated and enjoy the return to normalcy that those who are vaccinated are experiencing,” county Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com.