L.A. County Reports 93 Additional Deaths, 1,465 New Cases of COVID-19

L.A.County officials reported 1,465 new cases of COVID-19 and 93 additional deaths Sunday, noting that the relatively lower number of cases and deaths may reflect reporting delays over the weekend.

The number of coronavirus cases in county hospitals dropped to 2,369, with 30% of those patients being cared for in intensive care units. Hospitalizations have been dropping steadily since peaking at more than 8,000 in early January.

Sunday’s numbers bring the county’s totals to 1,180,485 infections and 19,885 deaths since the pandemic began.

Gov. Gavin Newsom was scheduled to visit two mobile vaccination sites in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon to highlight the state’s efforts to vaccinate hard-to-reach and disproportionately affected communities, as equity issues in the distribution of the shots continues to vex health officials.

Vaccination rates among eligible Black residents lag far behind other ethnic groups, according to data released Friday by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Black residents represented just 5.2% of all people who had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of mid-February, while 33.5% were white, 23.1% wew Latino and 19.1% were of Asian ancestry.

Only 24% of Black residents aged 65 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to 42.8% of white residents 65 and up.

During a virtual briefing Friday, Dr. Paul Simon, the county Health Department’s chief science officer, said the county is planning a number of steps to address the inequities, such as prioritizing the establishment of more vaccination sites in areas with the lowest rates and expanding mobile vaccination services to serve older residents and people with limited ability to travel to vaccine sites.

The county is also reserving doses so they can be administered in underserved communities, with 6,000 to 7,000 doses expected to be reserved next week for South Los Angeles and 1,000 to 2,000 for the Antelope Valley, he said.

Simon said there are still issues with vaccine supply, although the county’s sites were largely spared from the weather-related delivery problems that forced the Los Angeles city vaccination sites to close last week.

L.A.’s large-scale city-run vaccination sites remain closed, with all appointments rescheduled due to the supply delays. 

However, the city’s mobile vaccination efforts continue as planned, and county officials say their sites have not been affected by weather-related issues and will remain open as scheduled.

The county sites are administering only second doses of the two-dose regimen for people who have already received a first shot.

Health officials have been warning of a difficult month ahead in terms of access to vaccines, with the already jammed appointment system expected to get even more crowded on March 1, when essential workers such as teachers, food service workers and law enforcement become eligible for shots. In mid-March, everyone 16 and over or with a serious underlying health condition will become eligible.