Almost all COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths reported in San Diego County in 2021 occurred among residents who are not fully vaccinated, it was announced Wednesday.
Data released Wednesday from the county Health and Human Services Agency shows that since Jan. 1, COVID-19 has nearly exclusively occurred among residents who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. They represent 99.8% of deaths, 99.88% of hospitalizations and 99.1% of cases.
The data also shows a total of 54 delta variant cases in San Diego County, which the Center for Disease Control recently said has become the dominant strain in the U.S.
"The data shows what we've known all along. The COVID-19 vaccines are very effective at preventing serious illness and deaths," said Dr. Seema Shah, medical director of HHSA's epidemiology and immunization services branch. "If you have not gotten vaccinated or are missing a second shot of your COVID-19 vaccine, do be safe and limit the spread of this virus."
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Since Jan. 1, a total of 1,219 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the region but only three were county residents who had been fully vaccinated.
Of the 5,159 hospitalizations that have occurred during the same period, only 10 were in people who were fully immunized. Of 106,000 COVID-19 cases reported since the beginning of this year, only about 1,000 were among county residents who were fully vaccinated.
Two new deaths were reported between June 30 and Tuesday, increasing the county's total to 3,782. The two people who died were 80 years or older and had underlying medical conditions. They died June 19 and June 29.
A total of 102 COVID-19 cases were reported by the county on Wednesday, increasing its total to 283,376.
San Diego County's case rate is 2.5 cases per 100,000 residents as of this week's data. A total of 3,621 tests were reported by the county on Wednesday, and the percentage of new positive cases was 2.8%. The 14-day rolling percentage of positive cases among tests is 1.5%.
Nine new community outbreaks were confirmed in the past seven days — two in faith-based settings, two in restaurant/bar settings and one each in a residence, grocery setting, business setting, fitness/gym setting and a retail setting.
