Health authorities point to lag in vaccinations as Sonoma County records 5 new COVID-19 deaths

While the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, the virus continues to circulate and claim the lives of those who are at greatest risk of severe illness, local health officials said this week.

It’s a stark message just days ahead of holiday gatherings that infectious disease experts say will most certainly exacerbate the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.

“COVID has just not gone down, and it’s because of all the holiday travel and less precautions from the public,” Dr. Gary Green, a local infectious disease expert with Sutter Health, said in a phone interview.

Green said one of his patients died in November, an elderly person with significant health issues who had been previously vaccinated but not with the latest, updated COVID-19 vaccine.

“It was a patient I cared for, it’s very hard to experience someone who didn’t survive, and they didn’t receive the most recent vaccine,” he said.

Losing a patient to COVID-19 is “truly heartbreaking … it’s the toughest part of the job,” Green later wrote in a text message.

Green’s patient was among five Sonoma County residents who died last month after being infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 illness. As with Green’s patient, the other four had underlying health conditions and were fully vaccinated but had not received the latest vaccine, according to the county.

The deaths include a man age 50 to 60 who died on Nov. 3; a woman age 85 to 95 who died on Nov. 8; a man age 55 to 65 who died on Nov. 10; a woman age 80 to 90 who died on Nov. 25; and a man age 60 to 70 who died on Nov. 28, according to the county.

The deaths bring the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in Sonoma County to 585.

Dr. Tanya Phares, the county’s new health officer, said COVID-19 continues to be a threat and has maintained a steady presence in the community. Phares expressed concern that vaccination rates have dropped significantly since the height of the pandemic.

She said that only 17% of the county’s residents eligible to receive the updated COVID-19 vaccine have done so. Meanwhile, 31% of residents have received this year’s influenza vaccine and only 12% have been vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

“It’s important to get vaccinated and not just for COVID but influenza and RSV, as well,” Phares said. “It not only protects the individual, it protects others in the community, including pregnant women, young children, older adults and folks who are immunocompromised or have co-morbid conditions.”

Phares said current vaccination rates are nowhere near what’s needed for “herd immunity.”

“Ideally, you have 70% of the population up to date,” Phares said. “It doesn’t have to be 100%. You have herd immunity when you have enough of the population protected that it prevents the spread of that virus or that illness.”

Phares said there’s been a recent increase in COVID-19 virus detection in wastewater in Windsor and Petaluma, while levels have been stable in Santa Rosa, as of Dec. 5, the latest data available. She said influenza A and RSV have also been detected in local wastewater.

The health officer added that COVID-19 hospitalizations have been averaging about 20 a day in the county, while influenza hospitalizations are still low.

“We’re holding steady but we definitely don’t want these widespread in the community and we don’t want to overload our health system,” she said.

Green said he believes RSV infections may have peaked in the past week, even as the spread of flu is just starting to ramp up. The spread of COVID-19 remains steady, he said.

Green said he expects to see more flu illness in the coming weeks. The best protection, as local residents head into the holidays and into the new year, is getting vaccinated.

“If you’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19 in the past, it’s probably just as dangerous as influenza,“ he said. ”But if you've never received a COVID vaccine, then COVID is remarkably more dangerous than influenza. That’s the message I try to tell my patients.“

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.