SAN DIEGO (CNS) — San Diego County expects to receive new COVID-19 boosters that target multiple strains of the virus next week, it was announced Friday.
The bivalent boosters were developed to generate an immune response from the original COVID-19 virus and BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants. The Pfizer/BioNTech is for those age 12 and over, while the Moderna bivalent booster is for those age 18 and older.
"These new boosters are a welcome resource to our ongoing COVID-19 prevention efforts," said Dr. Wilma Wooten, county public health officer. "The virus remains very prevalent in our community. With this bivalent vaccine, we have an updated booster that more directly addresses the most common circulating variant, and a chance to better protect our community. I encourage everyone eligible to get boosted."
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Healthcare providers can provide information about the availability of the new boosters, and availability at county vaccine events will be updated on coronavirus-sd.com and appointments can be made through the state's My Turn system.
More than 3.01 million -- or 90.2% -- of San Diegans age 6 months and older are at least partially vaccinated. More than 2.66 million -- or 79.8% -- are fully vaccinated. A total of 1,445,743 -- or 59% -- of 2,450,225 eligible San Diegans have received a booster.
The number of people in San Diego County hospitalized with COVID-19 has decreased by four to 265, according to the latest state data.
The number of those patients hospitalized who were in intensive care declined by five to 23 and the number of available hospital beds decreased by 51 to 232.
The county Health and Human Services Agency reported 753 new infections and five additional deaths linked to the virus in its most recent data, increasing the county's cumulative counts to 912,653 cases and 5,464 deaths since the pandemic began. A total of 3,978 cases were reported in the past week compared to 4,744 infections identified the previous week.
San Diego County's case rate per 100,000 residents 12 years of age and older is 25.46 for people fully vaccinated and boosted, 17.2 for fully vaccinated people and 50.51 for not fully vaccinated San Diegans.
The HHSA updates data on Monday and Thursday nights.