Jefferson County Public Health: Nearly 90 percent of COVID cases are unvaccinated residents

Leader news staff
news@ptleader.com
Posted 8/13/21

Nearly 90 percent of the COVID-19 cases confirmed in Jefferson County since Feb. 1 have been in residents who weren't vaccinated, according to Jefferson County Public Health.

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Jefferson County Public Health: Nearly 90 percent of COVID cases are unvaccinated residents

Posted

Nearly 90 percent of the COVID-19 cases confirmed in Jefferson County since Feb. 1 have been in residents who weren't vaccinated, according to Jefferson County Public Health.

Fully vaccinated residents have made up only 10.7 percent of the county's COVID cases since the start of February.

Health officials reported eight new confirmed cases of coronavirus Friday, and noted that recent COVID-19 cases have been primarily due to the highly transmissible Delta variant.

One new hospitalization of a resident due to COVID-19 was also reported Friday.

The new cases pushed the total number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Jefferson County to 581.

Positive COVID test results were reported across the county; three in Port Townsend, three in the mid-county area, and two in south county.

Five of the new infections involved females; the other three involved males.

The new cases spanned a wide spectrum of ages. Positive test results were reported Friday for one resident in their 20s, one residents in their 30s, one resident in their 40s, two residents in their 50s, two residents in their 60s, and one resident in their 70s.

A total of 45 residents were still in isolation Friday due to potential COVID-19 contact.

According to Jefferson County Public Health, the results of 46 tests are still pending.

New test results from 94 residents were received Friday.

There have been 27,737 tests for COVID-19 in Jefferson County since the start of the pandemic, and 27,110 have resulted in negative results.

In Jefferson County, 468 people have recovered from COVID-19 and 41 people have been hospitalized for the disease. (People are considered "recovered" at 28 days from the onset of symptoms if they are alive and not hospitalized, according to the state Department of Health.)

Four deaths of Jefferson County residents have been linked to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

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  • JulieChristine

    What a misleading article and an unethical manipulation of data.

    Very few Jefferson County residents were vaccinated in February. Nationwide, two-thirds of cases in 2021 occurred before April, when just 15 percent of the country was fully vaccinated.

    Let's look at data after eligibility requirements opened to all in mid-April in Washington state and the potential of full vaccination was present by mid-late May. Oh, oops, but by May, the CDC decided not to track PCR positive tests of the vaccinated unless they presented symptoms. And of course, this is prior to the surge of the Delta variant, which has become the predominant strain nationally and locally just in the past few weeks.

    The data of this game-changing variant are only now catching up with reality, and we already know, per the CDC, that the vaccinated carry as great a viral load of Delta as the unvaccinated. Try again, Leader and JCPH. Tell us the percentage of Covid cases of vaccinated v unvaccinated since July 1. You recently stopped reporting how many of these recent cases are vaccinated/unvaccinated and it's been an obvious omission. Why the change? The vaccines were not designed to prevent transmission, but to lessen the severity of the outcomes and we know this is working- it's a reason for optimism and hope. But the Delta variant has reset the goal posts. Studies released in recent days from the UK, Israel, Singapore- which saw their Delta surges in the spring and have significantly higher vaccinations rates than the US -indicate that mRNA vaccine protection has gone from 95% pre-Delta to as low as 50% with Delta. The Mayo Clinic released a pre-print study on Wednesday that shows is may be as low as 42 percent.

    The mRNA vaccines are one tool in a vast toolbox that we are still constructing; they offer protection and mitigation but they are not the panacea that pieces such as this present them to be. They cannot prevent exposure to a virus that is mutating constantly. Time will get us to vaccine-derived and naturally-derived immunity- the mRNA vaccines significantly lessen the risk of severe illness. But by releasing and printing press releases of this nature, you, JCPH and The Leader, are misrepresenting relative risk. You are putting the vaccinated at risk by hiding the truth behind distorted data. It is little better than lying. At a time when trust in public health officials and the 'free" press is at an all-time low, why would you choose to make it worse?

    Saturday, August 14, 2021 Report this

  • MargeS

    A question Dr. Facts not Fear, before I accept what you say can you please give me your Physician's diploma number, your certification as a Health Care specialist in Virus's? Give your name or know one is going to believe anything you say. I know Dr. Berry's name.

    Saturday, August 14, 2021 Report this

  • ecorep

    Vaccinations are not the only way we protect ourselves, during a pandemic. Marge is dead on when asking for credentials and bona Fide's when someone is talking, date and hypotheticals, Stopping misinformation is key to stopping a pandemic. The other way we have to protect our self is by wearing a mask, social distancing and washing our hands. My 1st hand knowledge is that people who took the first opportunity to get vaccinated also are vigilant at these other forms of protection against the spread. The person who carries his mask across the parking lot and only puts in on just before entering the store is betraying his lack of enthusiasm for cooperation.

    Monday, August 23, 2021 Report this