The Los Angeles Post

Homebound Vaccination Program Helps Reach Vulnerable Individuals At Elevated Risk of COVID-19 Infection

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889 New Positive Cases and 21 New Deaths Due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

With a more contagious COVID-19 subvariant increasingly circulating in Los Angeles County, expanding vaccination services to homebound residents is even more critical to ensure the County’s most vulnerable residents are protected. The County Department of Public Health (Public Health) is expanding its mobile vaccine outreach to assist residents who are unable to travel to a clinic or pharmacy.

Alongside the Public Health Mobile Vaccine Team, Public Health currently partners with six external mobile providers to reach homebound residents. Getting all eligible residents vaccinated, especially residents at elevated risk who are not able to travel to a vaccine site, is essential to preventing severe illness or death, as the vaccines provide the best protection from COVID-19. Unvaccinated residents are about 4 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 when compared to those who are fully vaccinated, but not boosted. When adding a booster dose, protection increased such that those who were vaccinated and boosted were 5 times less likely to be hospitalized than people who were unvaccinated.

Since March of last year, approximately 9,960 residents considered homebound were vaccinated in L.A. County. The number of residents in Los Angeles County who are homebound and unable to access vaccination services outside the home is estimated to be between 10,000-15,000. This estimate is based on an examination of medical claims data by several public and private health care plans in the county that was requested by Public Health.

For the week ending March 5, 2022, 102 homebound referrals were received by the Homebound Project. Of these, nearly 90% were vaccinated within two weeks and nearly 80% lived in under-resourced communities.

An additional 231 residents who were unable to travel to vaccination sites were also served by other providers for the same week ending March 5. Of these, more than 60% resided in under-resourced communities.

Also, this week, Public Health began contacting more than 1,000 social service agencies that work with seniors or the homebound and provided them with information on how to request homebound services for their clients and if they needed a mobile vaccine team. These efforts will continue for the next few weeks.

For assistance on homebound services, the Public Health Vaccine Call Center is available at (833) 540-0473 between the hours of 8 AM and 8:30 PM seven days a week for information on COVID-19 vaccines.  Residents can also visit the “How to Get Vaccinated” section at VaccinateLACounty.com for more information.

“We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to everyone mourning the loss of a loved one from COVID,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Protecting the County’s most vulnerable residents also means expanding our outreach services and bringing the vaccines to their homes if they are unable to travel. As the County sees growing cases of the more-infectious BA.2 subvariant, everyone, especially those who are at elevated risk or homebound, should be fully vaccinated and boosted, and Public Health thanks our partners who are working to provide access to these life-saving vaccines for these at-risk residents.”

Today, Public Health reported 21 additional deaths, and 889 new positive cases of COVID-19. Of the 21 new deaths reported today, two people were between the ages of 30-49, four people were between the ages of 50-64, five were between the ages of 65-79, and nine were aged 80 years or older. Of the 21 newly reported deaths, 18 people had underlying health conditions. Information on the one death reported by the City of Long Beach is available at www.LongBeach.gov.  To date, the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 31,576.

Public Health has reported a total of 2,829,091 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County. Note that 291 additional cases have been added to the cumulative total of positive cases due to a backlog of cases from the surge. Today’s positivity rate is 0.7%.

There are 350 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 11,651,000 individuals, with 22% of people testing positive.

A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov including:

Always check with trusted sources for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus:

For More Information:

Cases through 12:00pm 3/24/2022

 

Total Cases

Laboratory Confirmed Cases

2,829,091

— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)*

2,675,570

— Long Beach

125,502

— Pasadena

28,019

Deaths

31,576

— Los Angeles County (excl. LB and Pas)

29,908

— Long Beach

1,259

— Pasadena

409

Age Group (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

– 0 to 4

82244

– 5 to 11

238212

– 12 to 17

232640

– 18 to 29

595420

– 30 to 49

852967

– 50 to 64

443071

– 65 to 79

172046

–  over 80

56038

–  Under Investigation

2932

Gender (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  Female

1360455

–  Male

1240170

–  Other

1013

–  Under Investigation

73932

Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

4913

–  Asian

163340

–  Black

134096

–  Hispanic/Latino

1224189

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

13577

–  White

342774

–  Other

297149

–  Under Investigation

495532

Hospitalization (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  Hospitalized (Ever)

135,899

Deaths Race/Ethnicity (Los Angeles County Cases Only-excl LB and Pas)

–  American Indian/Alaska Native

73

–  Asian

3735

–  Black

2762

–  Hispanic/Latino

15410

–  Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

110

–  White

7416

–  Other

307

–  Under Investigation

95