FDA gives emergency approval to Pfizer vaccine — but California’s still got a COVID crisis
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially gave its blessing to Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine on Friday, despite the record-high surge of viral activity in California.
The emergency-use authorization allows distribution of the vaccine and permits people age 16 and up to receive doses of the vaccine, which will likely be administered first to health care workers across the country.
California could see its first COVID-19 inoculations as early as next week — and it couldn’t come at a better time.
Statewide, hospitals are rapidly being filled as thousands more people are infected with the highly infectious virus every day.
Data from the California Department of Public Health continues to reach new highs almost every day. On Wednesday, health officials reported a record-high daily death toll of 220. By Friday, however, that record had already been broken, with 225 deaths reported in a single day.
Daily infection tallies have also been making and breaking records in quick succession. On Wednesday, a new record of single-day infections was set at 29,677. Then, on Thursday, CDPH reported 35,468, shattering the previous day’s record. But Friday topped even that, with 35,729 infections.
The 14-day average of statewide infections is up more than 28% since the last 14-day period, while the state’s 14-day death average is up 9.2% from the same time.
More Californians than ever before are hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19. In total, 12,444 people are in hospitals, 2,752 of whom are being treated in intensive care units.
As ICU beds continue to fill up with sick Californians, hospital capacities dwindle. There are 1,419 ICU beds available across the state, down from more than 3,000 in mid-October.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest regional stay-at-home order — based on localized ICU capacity — has been triggered in most of the state.
San Joaquin County currently has maxed out its ICU capacity, according to the CDPH. Southern California’s capacity is also dangerously low, with 5.3%. The 13-county Greater Sacramento region has an ICU capacity of 12.7%.
The Bay Area has managed to stay above the 15% threshold — which triggers economic restrictions — but several counties have chosen to adopt the more strict orders anyway. The region overall has 17.6% ICU capacity. Northern California currently has the greatest ICU capacity, with 27.4% of ICU beds available.
The state’s overall ICU capacity average is 7.9%, while its average test positivity rate is 8.4%, according to the CDPH.
A total of 1.52 million Californians have tested positive for coronavirus and 20,847 have died of COVID-19.
Local coronavirus data
Sacramento County has reported a total of 47,473 infections since the onset of the pandemic, and 670 people have died of COVID-19. On Friday, 994 new cases were reported by local health officials and 11 more deaths were added. As in the rest of the state, the infection rate has been rapidly rising as winter approaches.
County health officials recently reported another single-day infection record, adding 1,262 new cases on Tuesday. An additional 648 infections were reported Wednesday and 1,143 on Thursday. Over summer, the county never surpassed triple digits in a single day. The highest daily infection increase then was a mere 403 on July 20. Availability of local ICU beds has been on a slow, but steady downward spiral.
Sacramento County has 57 ICU beds available, down from an average closer to 100 earlier in the fall and in late summer and down from 65 last week. Across the county, 433 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Saturday, up from 378 last week, 85 of whom are being treated in ICUs. The county’s most recent weekly average test positivity rate is 10.4%, up from 8.4% from the county’s last batch of data.
Local health officials say at least 109 people died in Sacramento County in the month of November, making it the second-deadliest month after September, which saw 116 deaths. Tabulations for November are still being made, however, so more deaths could still be added to that estimate.
Yolo County has reported a total of 5,979 infections — 140 of which were reported on Thursday and 204 of which were reported on Friday — and 89 deaths. Five new deaths were reported over the last week, including one on Friday, along with more than 400 new infections. The county’s most recent weekly test positivity rate is nearly 12%, which has risen from less than 4% at the start of October. As of Saturday, Yolo County has 14 ICU beds available, with 12 patients already being treated for the virus in ICUs. In all, 24 people are hospitalized with COVID-19.
Placer County health officials have reported a total of 8,879 infections and 92 deaths, adding a daily record of 371 infections on Wednesday. Three more deaths were reported Friday. Last week, there were just shy of 7,000 cases in the county. Over summer, the highest daily infection record was just 68 on July 27. Health officials say more than 6,600 of the people with reported infections are likely recovered, which means there are over 2,000 people in Placer County currently sick with coronavirus.
Recent data indicates a weekly positivity rate of 12.5%. Since late September, the average per capita infection rate has soared. For every 100,000 county residents, just over three had coronavirus as of Sept. 25. As of Dec. 2, the most recent data point available, there are 42 infections for every 100,000 people. Currently, 176 people are in Placer County hospitals with COVID-19 and 17 are in ICUs. The county has 3 ICU beds available.
El Dorado County has reported 3,754 positive test results and eight deaths. On Friday, 126 new infections were reported. The current test positivity rate is 12.9% and the county is also averaging 756 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people. Health officials say 25 people are hospitalized with the virus, 14 of them in ICUs. State data shows three ICU beds available in El Dorado County.
In Sutter County, 4,657 people have been infected and 33 have died. On Thursday, 73 were confirmed infected and one was reported dead. On Friday, 82 infections and two deaths were reported. County health officials reported a daily record for infections with 204 new cases on Tuesday. Currently 43 people are hospitalized.
Neighboring Yuba County has reported 2,820 infections and 10 dead, with 81 new infections on Thursday and 40 on Friday. Its daily infection record was matched on Sunday, when 87 people were confirmed to have coronavirus. On Dec. 2, the same number were confirmed infected. Thirteen people are currently in the hospital.
The test positivity rate in Sutter County is 21.1%, and it has reported nearly 71 coronavirus patients for every 100,000 people. Yuba County’s test positivity rate is 17.7% and it has 46.3 coronavirus-positive residents for every 100,000 residents.
This story was originally published December 12, 2020 at 12:35 PM.
