With the increase in gatherings and parties, the spread of COVID-19 is on the rise, especially the Omicron variant. For this reason, the secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, Mark Ghaly, urged Californians to get the booster vaccine and to continue to use masks.
"Anyone who received the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine six months ago or more, or the Johnson & Johnson two months ago should get the booster. It's available for those 16 years and older," the doctor reminded the media at a conference held by Ethnic Media Services.
One year after the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine was administered in the state, the official noted that to date more than 26 million Californians have been fully vaccinated, while 6 million residents have received their booster shot.
However, there is still a long way to go, since, according to their own figures, 5.9 million Latinos, 340,000 Asian-Americans and 920,000 African-Americans have yet to be vaccinated.
Such figures are worrying, especially when the Omicron variant has gained strength in the state, with an increasing number of cases, and with the Delta strain still being the main source of positive cases in the state.
"We have been able to identify many cases of the Omicron variant not only in individuals but also in some of the sewage in California, and we take samples to identify early on the spread and transmission to the community," he stressed.
And, he said, there is still much to learn about the Omicron variant.
"We know it's a variant of concern, that it's highly transmissible, more so than the Delta variant that we've been concerned about. But, still Delta is the dominant strain in California and the one that is making people sick, sending them to the hospital, and sadly we are still losing many across the state."
In that sense, he explained that the vaccines provide a significant degree of protection, although he acknowledged that there is concern about the level of effectiveness against Omicron, as opposed to how it has been against Delta and other strains.
"There is so much more to learn. And that's part of the reason we're going into this month of celebration, with family at the holidays, with travel and guests from outside our communities, including counties and areas of the state where we don't currently have an indoor mask requirement in public places."
So, while we continue to learn about the Omicron variant, the pediatrician also called not to lower our guard and continue with precautionary measures such as the use of masks.
"This is an opportunity to keep our guard up in a very useful and meaningful way during these critical weeks of celebration without needing to do what some other countries have had to do, which is to put more limitations on the things we all miss."
He also called on all those traveling back to California to get a COVID-19 test 3-5 days after arriving at their destination. At the same time, he reminded that they updated the rules for people attending mega events who are not vaccinated to get a test two days before if it is a PCR test, and if it is an antigen test, the day before.
There is still a long way to go
In terms of vaccination, there is still a long way to go, and there are gaps that need to be closed so that everyone receives the necessary protection, said Mark Ghaly, who explained that a great effort has been made to make this happen.
"I'm happy and proud of the groundbreaking work that has been done in conjunction with community and faith-based organizations, and with the recent community ambassador program to reach out to communities that have concerns about the health care system and really sit down with neighbors to talk about the benefits of getting vaccinated."
In addition to those who have found it difficult to access the vaccine, there are those who have chosen not to get vaccinated, to whom she reiterated, "I have met many people who regret not getting vaccinated. On an ad hoc basis, I have yet to meet anyone who regrets getting the vaccine. The sense of safety and protection is real.
"We will not let all of this determine our fate. We're going to keep working hard together, 40 million Californians, strong to keep California moving in the right direction."
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