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Surge in COVID-19 cases among the unvaccinated contribute to latest round of shutdowns

The CDC's model of the coronavirus is shown here. The CDC says fully vaccinated people are less likely than unvaccinated people to become infected with the coronavirus.
<i>CDC</i><br/>The CDC's model of the coronavirus is shown here. The CDC says fully vaccinated people are less likely than unvaccinated people to become infected with the coronavirus.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — COVID-19 cases are surging across the U.S., California and Santa Barbara County. The fourth wave has already passed the third wave in some Southeastern states.

In Santa Barbara County there have been 161 new cases confirmed in the last three days. Public Health officials state there were 1,200 new cases in July. While between April, May and June there were 1,426 new cases.

Public Health officials said most of those getting sick are unvaccinated. As of July 20, the latest available data, unvaccinated people are getting sick 7 times more than vaccinated. Unvaccinated people have a daily case rate of 15.3 per 100,000 people. While vaccinated people have a daily case rate of 2.1 per 100,000. 

Last week California Governor Gavin Newsom pointed the blame of this wave to the unvaccinated. “Too many people have chosen to live with this virus,” said Governor Newsom. He continued equating vaccine hesitancy as similar to drinking and driving. “You don’t have the choice to go out and drink and drive and put everyone else’s lives at risk. That’s the equivalent of this moment with the deadliness and efficiency of the Delta virus.”

Santa Barbara County Public Health officials said they plan to have a pass conference address new restrictions. The press conference is scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m.

According to Santa Barbara County Public Health, the week of March 27 to April 3 saw the most vaccinations distributed in the county: 42,542. If the county had continued at its peak pace for the following 13 weeks, all eligible people in Santa Barbara County could have received both doses of the vaccine by July.

However, vaccine rates started to taper off. Last week, 4,789 people received a vaccine dose in Santa Barbara County.

To sign-up for a vaccination visit MyTurn.ca.gov or call 2-1-1.

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Scott Sheahen

Scott Sheahen is a reporter for NewsChannel 3-12. To learn more about Scott, click here.

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