COVID: California hits 10 million vaccine doses administered
California reached 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered on Friday, a positive sign in a state that struggled with one of the slowest starts to its vaccination rollout in the nation, and an encouraging metric alongside declining case rates and hospitalizations from the deadly virus.
Calling it a “major marker in the effort to get vaccines out of refrigerators and into people’s arms” in a video shared on Twitter, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California has administered more total vaccine doses than any other state in the nation and more than all but six countries in the world.
The state, the largest in the U.S., has administered 25,490 doses for every 100,000 residents, lagging behind several much less populous states such as South Dakota, West Virginia and Oklahoma, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. New Mexico has administered 36,530 doses per 100,000 people; Alaska has 38,476 per 100,000.
“Our only constraint is manufactured supply, but I see the light — not just light, bright light — at the end of this tunnel,” Newsom said. So far, 22.4 percent of residents 18 and older in California have received at least one vaccine dose, according to the CDC.
On Friday, California counties also reported 5,153 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the seven-day average down to 4,409 daily cases according to data compiled by this news organization. In late December, during a massive winter surge, the state averaged as many as 45,388 daily cases. Since the start of the pandemic, 3,568,544 cases have been reported in the state, although that doesn’t include cases where the person was never tested for the virus.
Los Angeles County, the largest and hardest-hit in the state, reported 2,022 new cases, San Diego County reported 499 and San Bernardino County 267. They were followed by Orange, Sacramento and Santa Clara counties.
Although cases have been declining to nearly pre-surge levels, deaths remain higher than during a summer surge. On Friday, counties reported 403 deaths, bringing the seven-day average to 292 daily deaths. In late January, the state averaged as many as 566 daily deaths. As of Friday, 53,869 people have died from COVID-19 in the state.
Los Angeles County reported 132 deaths on Friday, San Bernardino County 94 deaths and Orange County 62 deaths. They were followed by Fresno, Kern and San Diego counties.
The number of patients hospitalized or in intensive care unit beds with confirmed cases of COVID-19 have also improved in the state over the past several weeks. On Thursday, the number of hospitalized patients declined by 6.1 percent from the preceding day to 4,179 patients. That’s down from a peak of almost 22,000 hospitalized patients in early January.
Similarly, the number of patients in ICU beds declined 6.1 percent on Thursday, to 1,190 patients, down from as many as 4,868 ICU patients on Jan. 10, during the winter surge.
In the Bay Area, Santa Clara County reported 179 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, as well as two deaths from the virus, for a total of 111,460 cases and 1,822 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Alameda County reported 82 cases and four deaths for a total of 81,168 cases and 1,285 deaths. Contra Costa County reported 89 cases and five deaths for a total of 63,142 cases and 701 deaths.
San Mateo County reported 51 new cases and four deaths for a total of 39,010 cases and 525 deaths. And San Francisco reported 38 cases and three deaths for a total of 34,245 cases and 426 deaths.