L.A. County Health Officials Hail Newsom’s School Vaccination Mandate

County public health officials offered support for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement on Friday to require COVID-19 vaccination for all eligible schoolchildren pending full FDA approval.

Friday marked the deadline for Los Angeles County workers to show proof of vaccination in Los Angeles County. The county deadline for healthcare workers passed Thursday.

L.A. County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer thanked the public for complying with existing requirements and lauded Newsom for the statewide vaccination mandate in schools.

“We thank all healthcare workers complying with the State and County vaccination requirements. Their support ensures we are protecting each other and our patients as we comply with these and other public health safety measures,” she said.

“We also support the State as they plan to add COVID-19 to the list of already required vaccines for schools,” Ferrer said. “Among L.A. County teens 12 to 17 years old eligible for the vaccine, 59% are fully vaccinated. With vaccines an extremely safe and highly protective defense against COVID-19, we remain focused on increasing vaccination rates as quickly as possible.”

The Pasadena Public Health Department documented 12 new COVID-19 infections and no new deaths on Friday.

The city has seen a total of 13,235 cases of COVID-19 and 361 deaths since the onset of the pandemic.

The average number of daily infections decreased to 12.7, PPHD records show.

Huntington Hospital officials reported treating 17 admitted COVID-19 patients as of Friday, including five housed in intensive care units.

Ten of those hospitalized were unvaccinated, as well as three of those in ICUS.

Pasadena Unified School District officials reported six student infections and one infection among a staff member over the prior week.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health reported 1,485 new cases of COVID-19 and 20 deaths on Friday, raising the county’s pandemic totals to 1,460,645 infections and 26,126 fatalities.

Just over 870 patients were being treated for the virus at hospitals throughout the county, official said. Twenty-eight percent of them were being housed in ICUs.

Friday’s county-wide test positivity rate was 1.7%.

State public health officials announced 7,869 new infections and 126 deaths, raising the totals to 4,496,717 COVID-19 cases and 68,796 fatalities.

The statewide weekly positivity rate inched upward to 2.8%, according to California Department of Public Health data.

As of Friday, L.A. County represented 32% of California’s COVID-19 infections and 38% of the state’s associated deaths.

Related:

Newsom Mandates COVID Vaccines for Students to Attend In-Person Instruction

COVID-19 Hospitalizations in County Continue Decline, New Vaccination Requirements Begin