COVID updates: BA.2 subvariant found in Sacramento area; Moderna vaccine fully approved
California’s COVID-19 numbers continue to improve across the board with cases, test positivity, hospitalizations and intensive care unit patient totals all trending downward.
The California Department of Public Health on Monday reported the state’s daily case rate for COVID-19 at 183 per 100,000 residents, down from a peak of 295 per 100,000 recorded about two weeks earlier.
Statewide positivity has plunged to 14.5%, its lowest point of 2022 after peaking at 22.8% in early January.
Both metrics remain well above pre-omicron levels.
California hospitals were treating 13,435 COVID-positive patients including 2,534 in intensive care units on Sunday, CDPH reported Monday, down from respective peaks of about 15,500 and 2,600 in mid-January.
Hospitalizations continue to decline in Los Angeles and other Southern California counties, and appear to be starting to drop in parts of the Sacramento region and Bay Area as well. Patient totals have fallen by about 10% in Sacramento County and 20% in Placer County over the past five days, state data show.
But a recently discovered subvariant of omciron, known as BA.2, has cast yet another shadow of uncertainty on the trajectory of the pandemic.
BA.2 is still being studied, but early signs indicate it may be more contagious than the original omicron variant, BA.1. It has quickly become the dominant strain in Denmark, where scientists last week said they found BA.2 to be about 50% more transmissible than BA.1.
The key question is whether people recently infected with BA.1 have significant immune protection against BA.2. If they do, BA.2 would be unlikely to cause a major new surge because so many people have already been infected during the omicron wave. But if they do not, it could be a setback that either produces another spike in cases or slows the current pace of recovery.
Research is continuing, and neither the World Health Organization nor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have designated BA.2 as a separate variant of concern, though the original omicron variant has been labeled as such.
BA.2 has been confirmed in California, including the Sacramento area. Yolo County as of late last week had confirmed four cases of the subvariant, county spokesman John Fout confirmed in an email to The Sacramento Bee on Monday.
FDA fully approves Moderna COVID vaccine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday granted full approval for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, which will be marketed as Spikevax, for use in adults.
“The public can be assured that Spikevax meets the FDA’s high standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality required of any vaccine approved for use in the United States,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a prepared statement.
The FDA fully approved the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech, brand named Comirnaty, in August for ages 16 and up.
Both are mRNA vaccines with two doses in the initial series. Officials strongly urge recipients to receive a booster dose five months after the second dose.
Recent CDC studies showed booster doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines provide strong protection against hospitalization from omicron.
Latest Sacramento-area numbers
Sacramento County has recorded 261,498 total lab-confirmed cases and 2,677 deaths from COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, according to local health officials.
The county on Monday reported the daily case rate at 124 per 100,000 residents, down from an all-time high of 242 per 100,000 recorded Jan. 10.
According to CDPH, Sacramento County’s latest test positivity rate is 18.5%.
County hospitals were treating 595 patients with confirmed COVID-19 as of Sunday, down from 623 one week earlier. The ICU total fell to 101 from 110.
Placer County has tallied 57,257 cases and 523 virus deaths to date, last updated Friday.
Local health officials last reported the daily case rate at 146 per 100,000 for the week ending Jan. 19.
Placer’s positivity rate is 18.9%, CDPH reported Monday.
Placer County hospitals had 203 COVID-positive patients Sunday, down from 253 one week earlier. The ICU tally decreased to 40 from 47.
Yolo County has confirmed 31,970 infections and 270 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Friday.
The county’s latest reported case rate is 147 per 100,000, for the week ending Jan. 24.
CDPH reports Yolo County’s positivity rate at 5%, the lowest among all of the state’s 58 counties.
Yolo County hospitals were treating 22 patients with COVID-19 on Sunday, up from 21 one week earlier. The ICU total held at five.
El Dorado County has reported 24,875 cumulative cases and 188 deaths from COVID-19, last updated Friday.
El Dorado’s latest reported case rate, for the week ending Jan. 21, was 117 per 100,000.
The county had a positivity rate of 17.8%, CDPH reported Monday.
Hospitals in El Dorado County had 16 COVID-positive patients Sunday, down from 19 a week earlier. Five patients were in ICUs, the same as the previous week.
Sutter County has recorded 20,253 cases and 210 deaths, and Yuba County has recorded 15,811 cases with 96 deaths, according to a Thursday update from the bi-county health office.
CDPH reported Yuba County at 168 daily cases per 100,000 and Sutter County at 136 per 100,000 as of Monday. Positivity was 29.1% in Yuba and 24.8% in Sutter.
The lone hospital serving Yuba and Sutter counties, Adventist Health and Rideout in Marysville, as of Sunday had 79 patients with confirmed COVID-19, a new all-time record for the pandemic and an increase from 63 a week earlier. Eight were in the ICU, up from seven.
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 10:03 AM.
