With Unvaccinated 12-17 Year Old’s Nine Times More Likely to Get COVID-19 than Vaccinated 12-17 Year Old’s, Parents Encouraged to Vaccinate Their Children Ahead of the Holiday Season

15 New Deaths and 1,772 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

As residents prepare to gather for holidays, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) encourages parents to protect their children and prevent the transmission of COVID-19 by getting everyone in their family who is eligible vaccinated or boosted.

COVID-19 is now one of the top 10 causes of death among children nationwide. The COVID-19 vaccine is the best way to protect your child from getting sick, being hospitalized, or developing long-term symptoms. Most importantly, vaccinating your child also helps protect family members, including siblings who are not eligible for vaccination and those who may be at high risk for getting very sick if infected.

In L.A. County, COVID-19 cases among school-aged children decreased by 30% between late September and late November. Over a two-week interval at the end of November, unvaccinated 12-17-year old’s were nine times more likely to be infected than those who had been vaccinated. During this same interval, two children aged 5 to 11 and eight children aged 12 to 17 were hospitalized, all of them unvaccinated. There were 6 confirmed MIS-C cases in L.A. County in October 2021 and 4 confirmed cases in November 2021. Pediatric trends mirror adult trends: over the same interval, unvaccinated L.A. County residents over 18 were infected and hospitalized at rates 3 and 14 times higher than vaccinated adults, respectively.

Public Health continues to see very low numbers of school cases given the 1.55 million students enrolled countywide. During the week ending December 4th, 1,311 cases and 3 outbreaks were identified, and test positivity was 0.28%.

If you’d like to get your child vaccinated, please check  www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) or www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) to find a site near you, you can also check with your child’s healthcare provider to find out if they offer COVID vaccines.

Today, Public Health confirmed 15 additional deaths and 1,772 new cases of COVID-19. Of the 15 new deaths reported today, two people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49, five were between the ages of 50 and 64, two were between the ages of 65-79 and five were over the age of 80 years old. Of the 15 newly reported deaths, 10 had underlying conditions. To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 27,275.

Public Health has identified a total 1,540,200 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County.

There are 650 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 9,535,573 individuals, with 15% of people testing positive. Today’s test positivity rate is 1.5%.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to everyone mourning the loss of a loved one to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Although several parts of the country are seeing large waves of pediatric infections and hospitalizations, our experience in L.A. County has been different, with transmission decreasing here over the past two months and relatively low numbers of pediatric hospitalizations. What we are continuing to see is that unvaccinated children are the ones getting severely ill with COVID infections and ending up in the hospital. Meanwhile, county schools remain a very safe place – and in fact, we think it’s because of the outstanding preventive work our school partners are doing that we are seeing so little severe illness in children. As we’re headed into the winter holidays and children spend more time intermingling without schools’ protective layers of consistent mask wearing and other control strategies, their risk of infection is going to increase. The best way to get children ready for the holidays is to get them vaccinated as soon as possible.”

Public Health would like to remind residents that getting vaccinated or boosted remains critical as holiday traveling and gatherings begin.

Additionally, all residents across LA County should continue:

• Getting tested to help reduce the spread, especially if you traveled for the holidays, have had a possible exposure or have symptoms
• Adhering to masking requirements when indoors or at large outdoor mega events, regardless of vaccination status

Residents are also reminded that they are legally required to be isolated if they have a positive COVID test result and that vaccinated close contacts with symptoms and unvaccinated close contacts need to be quarantined.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and are recommended for everyone 5 years old and older to help protect against COVID-19. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status. Appointments are not needed at all Public Health vaccination sites and many community sites where first, second, and third doses are available.

To find a vaccination site near you, or to make an appointment, please visit:

www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) or www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish).

 If you need assistance you can also call 1-833-540-0473 for help:

Finding an appointment

Connect to free transportation to and from a vaccination site, or

Schedule a home-visit if you are homebound.

 For more information regarding COVID-19 in LA County you can also visit the Public Health website at www.publichealth.lacounty.gov here you will find information on:

COVID-19 sector protocols & best practices,

COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboards, and

COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive and, Recovery Dashboards

Please see additional information below:

Cases through 6:00pm 12/7/2021
	Total Cases	NEW
Laboratory Confirmed Cases	1540200	1772
— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)*	1458651	1578
— Long Beach	67549	184
— Pasadena	14000	10
Deaths	27275	15
— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)	25848	14
— Long Beach	1059	1
— Pasadena	368	0
Age Group (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
– 0 to 4	38861
– 5 to 11	85192
– 12 to 17	93532
– 18 to 29	343704
– 30 to 49	484102
– 50 to 64	267658
– 65 to 79	106678
–  over 80	38039
–  Under Investigation	885
Gender (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  Female	734106
–  Male	689710
–  Other	774
–  Under Investigation	34061
Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  American Indian/Alaska Native	2514
–  Asian	70337
–  Black	71080
–  Hispanic/Latino	747330
–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	5359
–  White	185273
–  Other	123730
–  Under Investigation	253028
Hospitalization (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  Hospitalized (Ever)	109202	**DATA Under reported
Deaths Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)
–  American Indian/Alaska Native	59
–  Asian	3354
–  Black	2302
–  Hispanic/Latino	13692
–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	94
–  White	6120
–  Other	198
–  Under Investigation	29