Vaccination slow down helped allow fourth COVID-19 wave: how this could have been avoided
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The United States is 19 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s also been 9 months since the first vaccine doses became available. And on April 15, in California, the vaccine became available for everyone 16 and up.
In Santa Barbara County, during the first four and a half months, people got vaccinated as quickly as possible. The process would have been faster if more vaccines were available sooner. However, now the problem is the lack of arms rather than a lack of vaccines.
Santa Barbara County's peak week for vaccinations was the week of March 28 to April 3. Healthcare workers administered 39,678 doses, with March 31 being the peak day at 8,660.
In California on May 5, 50.1 percent of Californians had at least one dose of the vaccine. In the five months since only an additional 20.8 percent of Californians got their first dose. Nationwide less than 65 percent of Americans have gotten their first dose.
Health experts point to a large unvaccinated population and a more contagious Delta variant for why the country is seeing a fourth wave. They also said this wave was avoidable had more people gotten vaccinated.
"The surge is completely preventable,” said Santa Barbara County Public Health officer Dr. Henning Ansorg. “This is a completely preventable infection. The vaccine is so effective that if everybody would get the vaccine we wouldn't see any surges at all."
New cases show the fourth wave started shortly after the Fourth of July weekend. Public health records show there were enough vaccine doses and capacity for every eligible American to have been fully vaccinated by the week of June 27 to July 3. That is assuming the peak week of March 28 to April 3 was continued for three more months.
Since the fourth wave in Santa Barbara key events were canceled, including parts of Fiesta Old Spanish Days got sidelined.
Another COVID-19 outbreak happened among inmates, this time at Santa Barbara County Jail.
In parts of California and the country, ICU beds are at or exceeded capacity. And in the last month, more than 925,000 American kids got COVID-19.
While United States President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom have required federal, state and medical workers to be fully vaccinated, it’s not universal and workers can opt-out to get tested weekly.
In a statement, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) wrote, “The most important action we can take to end the pandemic is getting vaccinated, which saves lives, prevents serious illness, and reduces the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and free.”
NewsChannel 3-12 is still waiting for CDPH to answer is it fair for the 70 percent of Californians who are vaccinated to continue to live under pandemic conditions because people are choosing to be unvaccinated. We hope to have that answer soon.
