COVID-19 in Shasta County: Pfizer boosters coming soon for teens ages 16-17
Cases dropped the first week of December after the wave of COVID-19 outbreak that hit Shasta County this fall — but public health officials warned holiday gatherings may cause another spike in cases, as they did in 2020.
Here are the daily COVID-19 updates on new case numbers, hospitalization figures, vaccination percentages and deaths announced.
Scroll down for updates this week, Nov. 29-Dec. 5 2021. For updated case numbers and data, scroll below daily updates.
Older youths will soon be able to get a COVID booster shot in Shasta County.
Now that the Pfizer booster is approved for them, people 16 and 17 years old can make an appointment for it, Shasta County Public Heath announced Friday afternoon.
Like adults, teens are due for a booster six months after their second Pfizer vaccine dose, public health said.
On Friday, the state was in the process of updating its public health website to allow youths to schedule COVID vaccination appointments.
"The update may take several days, (and) it may take some time for local pharmacies and clinics to meet the new guidelines," public health said.
For more information or to make an appointment go to Shasta County's COVID-19 website at bit.ly/3GLFoFo or call 833-422-4255 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends.
Thursday: 5 more people died, 2 clinics open; pregnant women encouraged to vaccinate
Five more people in Shasta County died of COVID-19, according to public health.
They were:
A man in his 50s
A man in his 60s
Two women in their 70s
A woman in her 80s
From Dec. 1 to Thursday, public health confirmed the deaths of 19 people due to COVID, according to Shasta County Health and Human Services data.
Also on Thursday, HHSA announced it will host two COVID vaccination clinics:
Shasta Lake: From 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday Dec. 10 at Shasta Lake Chiropractic, 4221 Shasta Dam Blvd. All vaccine brands and boosters are available.
Round Mountain: From 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Monday Dec. 13 at Hill Country Health and Wellness Center, 29632 Highway 299 E. Vaccine brands available are Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. No boosters are available.
Both clinics will have gift card giveaways, the HHSA said.
For more information or to make an appointment go to Shasta County's COVID-19 website at bit.ly/3GLFoFo or call 833-422-4255 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends.
The Tehama County Health Services Agency is urging mothers-to-be to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
Pregnancy increases risk of severe illness from COVID-19, risk of premature birth and the likelihood an infant will have to go into an intensive care unit, according to the HSA and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a COVID vaccine for women who:
Are pregnant
Recently gave birth
Are breastfeeding
May become pregnant in the near future
As of Sept. 27, 18% of pregnant women who got COVID were hospitalized, according to the HSA. Of those hospitalized, 97% were unvaccinated.
Data shows vaccinated breastfeeding women have antibodies in their breastmilk, the HSA said. Studies are underway to determine how much protection they provide the baby.
For more information about pregnancy and COVID, go to https://bit.ly/3IEX1rd.
Wednesday: Third of Shasta County COVID-19 deaths happened this fall
As of Tuesday, 49.5% of people in Shasta County ages 5 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Another 7% are partially vaccinated, meaning they had one dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer two-shot series, according to new data reported by Shasta County Public Health branch on Wednesday.
Public Health also announced the number of people vaccinated and unvaccinated who died of COVID-19 or were hospitalized with the virus over the past three months.
Here's the latest information about the 166,367 Shasta County residents old enough to get a COVID vaccination:
82,315 people are fully vaccinated, meaning they either had the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or both shots of the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer series. That's 975 more people than last week.
84,052 people are unvaccinated or they received one of a two-dose vaccine series.
Of the 395 people hospitalized with COVID-19 from Sept. 7 to Dec. 7:
48 were fully vaccinated — 12.2%
14 were partially vaccinated — 3.5%
333 were unvaccinated — 84.3%
Of the 171 people who died of COVID-19 from Sept. 7 to Dec. 7:
16 were fully vaccinated — 9.3%
4 were partially vaccinated — 2.3%
151 were unvaccinated — 88.3%
Of the 16 vaccinated who died, 12 received their last dose of a COVID vaccine at least six months ago, Public Health said. None of the 12 received a booster shot.
Since March 2020, Shasta County lost 465 people to COVID-19. Of those deaths, 36.8% occurred between Sept. 7 and Dec. 7.
For more information, to get vaccinated or tested, or to schedule a booster shot or third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, go to Shasta County's COVID-19 website at bit.ly/3GLFoFo or call 833-422-4255 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends.
Tuesday: 3 more die in Shasta County; questions answered about young people and COVID-19
Three more people died of COVID-19, public health announced Tuesday.
They were a man in his 60s and a man and a woman in their 70s.
Including those deaths, the total number of Shasta County residents who died as a result of the virus is 465.
4 questions answered about young people and COVID-19
Monday's update about a man in his 20s who died of COVID-19 spurred questions from readers on redding.com and social media. Here are answers:
Q. How does Shasta County Public Health branch know the person really died of COVID-19 and not something else?
A. Public health reports a person died of COVID if a physician or coroner lists COVID-19 as cause of death, and after public health epidemiologists investigate and do tests to confirm COVID was indeed the cause. The state does a separate investigation and test.
Q. Do we know if the young man was vaccinated?
A. As of Tuesday, Public health didn't release the man's vaccination status — or we would have reported it. The only patient information announced was the person's gender and their age range by decade.
However, each Wednesday the county releases the vaccination status of people who died of COVID over a three-month period. According to the county's latest report, which the Record Searchlight reported last Wednesday:
Of the 182 people who died between Aug. 30 and Nov. 30, the vast majority were unvaccinated. All told, 87%, or 159, were unvaccinated.
Four were partially vaccinated and 19 were fully vaccinated.
Q. How many children in Shasta County died of COVID?
A. None. The man in his 20s, whose death public health reported Monday, was the youngest Shasta County resident known to have died of the disease.
Q. How many children in Shasta County died from a COVID vaccination?
A. No children have died from the COVID-19 vaccine in Shasta County, according to public health.
As of November, no children died as a result of a COVID vaccine in the United States, according to George Washington University health policy professor Leana Wen who was interviewed in a fact check published by USA TODAY.
Of the 73 million children in the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fewer than 700 had died of COVID-19 during the course of the pandemic, according to a USA TODAY story that published Oct. 8.
Monday: Man in his 20s is youngest to die from coronavirus in Shasta County
A man in his 20s is the youngest Shasta County resident known to have died from COVID-19.
His death may in part underscore the difference between early COVID-19 variants and more aggressive mutations, public health said.
The man who died is the 462nd COVID-19 death in the county, public health reported on Monday.
On May 28 of this year, Shasta County had reported 230 deaths due to the virus since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. It took about six months to double that figure.
"When the pandemic started, COVID-19 primarily affected older adults and people with pre-existing health conditions," public health said in a report Monday. "However, the delta variant is now affecting people of all ages."
Delta is considered more contagious and more resistant to current therapies, according to the CDC. Cases tend to be more serious, and more deadly.
Some youths, kids more vulnerable
While most children don't become as sick as adults who get COVID, some do, public health said. Those most vulnerable have health conditions like obesity, diabetes or asthma.
"Children can also experience extended COVID illness — long COVID — even when they (initially) have mild illness or no symptoms," public health said. "(Long COVID) is a systemic illness, which means it affects your whole body. We still don’t know the long-term impacts of COVID-19 in children, including on the heart and nervous system."
Like adults, children who have the virus can spread it to other people, even if they don't have symptoms.
No Shasta County children died of COVID, public health said.
Of the 462 people the county lost to the virus:
Six people were in their 30s
21 people were in their 40s
52 people in their 50s
68 people in their 60s
131 people were in their 70s
119 people were in their 80s
64 people were in their 90s
More: Public health urges Shasta County to prepare for omicron as vaccination rate still below 50%
COVID-19 numbers in Shasta County
Here are daily case, hospitalization and other numbers reported Friday by Shasta County Public Health. Total case numbers are adjusted on Wednesdays to account for any duplications in the count.
New cases: 28
Total cases: 22,742 — 10,402 men, 12,211 women, 128 gender unidentified
New deaths reported: 0
Total deaths: 470
Hospitalized: 31 — 9 in intensive care units
Active cases: 205, the same as Thursday
New cases by age group:
Ages 0-12: 0
Ages 13-19: 0
Ages 20-29: 4
Ages 30-39: 7
Ages 40-49: 3
Ages 50-59: 6
Ages 60-69: 1
Ages 70-79: 5
Ages 80-89: 1
Age 90 and older: 1
Age not reported: 0
COVID cases/deaths by gender
Infogram
COVID hospitalizations
Infogram
Deaths by age group covid
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Cases by age group covid
Infogram
Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and entertainment stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: COVID-19 in Shasta County: Pfizer boosters coming soon for teens
