As 95% of Eligible Pasadenans Are Inoculated With at Least 1 COVID-19 Vaccine Dose, New Infections Decline

A day after local authorities announced that 95.2% of eligible Pasadena residents have received at least COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 88.3% of the local population was fully vaccinated, newly reported infections continued at a modest rate.

Wednesday, 18 new infections were logged across the city, officials said. No new deaths were reported.

In total, the Pasadena Public Health Department had recorded cumulative 13,205 cases of COVID-19 and 361 deaths since the pandemic began. The city’s average number of daily infections over the prior week declined to 13.

In the Pasadena Unified School District, officials reported 10 new infections among students over the past week, including six cases reported on Tuesday alone. Two cases among staff members were detected over the prior week.

Huntington Hospital representatives reported 16 COVID-19 patients being treated at the facility as of Wednesday. Seventy-five percent were unvaccinated.

Five patients were being treated in intensive care units, according to Huntington. Four of them were unvaccinated.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 1,436 new COVID-19 cases and 31 deaths on Wednesday, raising the county’s pandemic totals to 1,457,672 infections and 26,078 fatalities.

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients within the county dropped to 892, representing the first time the number of admitted patients has declined below 900 since late-July, the agency said in a written statement.

The county-wide daily test positivity rate was measured at 1.2%.

L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer urged vaccination among pregnant people and new mothers, and affirmed the vaccines’ safety for them, as statistics show that category is lagging behind when it comes to getting inoculated against COVID-19.

Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports only 31% of pregnant people are fully vaccinated, officials said.

County public health officials had documented 12,944 infections among pregnant people as of Sept. 28.

“Twelve pregnant women who tested positive for COVID-19 tragically passed away,” the statement said.

It is possible, although rare, for COVID-19 to be transmitted to infants from their mothers, county health officials added.

“It is troubling to see the low rates of vaccination among pregnant women given the increased risk of serious COVID illness associated with pregnancy for the mother-to-be and her newborn,” Ferrer said. “We encourage pregnant women to talk with their doctor or midwife to get the facts about how they can best protect themselves from the virus. Sadly, misinformation continues to circulate leading to avoidable tragedies for moms and their babies.”

More information regarding pregnancy and COVID-19 is available on the L.A. County Department of Public Health website at publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/docs/vaccine/WomenAndCOVIDvaccine.pdf.

Public Health continues to urge and offer vaccination to women who are pregnant,

The California Department of Public Health announced 6,493 infections and 130 deaths across the state on Wednesday, bringing the totals to 4,482,881 COVID-19 cases and 68,517 fatalities.

The statewide weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.5%, according to CDPH data.

As of Wednesday, L.A. County represented 33% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 38% of the state’s deaths.