As California settles into its third year of the pandemic, COVID-19 continues to pose a serious threat of death. However, the death toll and victim demographics have changed significantly compared to his first two years.
Given the herd immunity that people have acquired through a combination of massive vaccination and protection built from previous infections, California as a whole is more likely to have the Omicron variant in 2022 than it did during the first two years of the pandemic. You are much less likely to die from COVID. Other variants are mostly at play, amplifying the national trend.
Yet every week, the virus kills hundreds of Californians, hitting them hardest among those who aren’t vaccinated. It followed heart disease, cancer, stroke and Alzheimer’s, but surpassed diabetes, accidental deaths, and many other debilitating diseases. About 13,500 Californians died from COVID in the first seven months. By comparison, the virus killed about 31,400 people in 2020 and about 44,000 in 2021.
From April 2020 to December 2021, COVID killed an average of 3,600 people per month, making it the third leading cause of death in the state after heart disease and cancer during that period. In just three months, from December 2020 to February 2021, he claimed the lives of more than 38,300 Californians, temporarily overtaking heart disease as the leading cause of death. At its latest peak in January 2022, COVID claimed about 5,900 lives.
Covid slipped out of the top 10 causes of death for a brief period in the spring, but reentered this summer as the Omicron subspecies continued to mutate. In July, COVID was the fifth leading cause of death, claiming more than 1,000 lives, even though more than 70% of Californians were fully vaccinated.
Clearly vaccination made a difference. Covid mortality has fallen in recent months as COVID vaccinations and previous infections have largely protected much of the population from severe illness. Dr. Timothy Brewer, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at UCLA. Brewer said the Omicron variant appears to be a milder version of the virus, although it is more contagious than previous strains.
Research into that question is ongoing, but preliminary data suggests that omicron is unlikely to cause serious illness or death. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionAlso note that the severity of symptoms may be influenced by vaccination status, age, and other health conditions.
The decline in deaths was particularly pronounced among Latinos in California.
In 2020 and 2021, Latinx residents made up 40% of California’s population, but accounted for 47% of COVID deaths (about 35,400). By comparison, the Latino he accounted for 34% of her COVID deaths from January to July 2022, according to state data. This equates to approximately 4,600 deaths.
Conversely, the proportion of COVID deaths involving white residents increased from 32% in the first two years of the pandemic to 44% in the first seven months of 2022. First seven months of 2022. Whites make up about 35% of the state’s population.
Researchers point to several factors for the shift. During his first two years of the pandemic, many of the workers deemed essential and who continued to report directly to the field were Latinos, while white residents were more likely to find jobs that allowed them to work from home. higher, a U.S. Census Bureau study shows.
Said “they just got more exposed” Dr. George Rutherford, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. “They had essential jobs and had to leave home to go to work.”
A remote work imbalance still exists, according to Census data, but today, the majority of both Latinos and white workers in California report working in-person.
Cecia AquinoThe vice president of the Latino Coalition for Healthy California said efforts to ensure underserved communities of color had access to testing, treatment and vaccinations also had an impact. Also, many California Latinos are still wearing masks, she said, because the Latino community was hit hard during the pandemic. “They still make sure we stay home if we’re sick,” she said. “They still adhere to those policies even though the larger narrative is changing.”
Age is also an important factor in demographic change, Brewer said.
Californians over the age of 75 account for 53% of COVID deaths through July 2022, up from 46% in 2020 and 2021. Only about 6% of the state’s residents are over the age of 75. And California whites over the age of 75 outnumber Latinos in that age group by about 3 to 1.
In the initial immunization rollout, California will prioritize seniors, first responders, and other essential workers, with older residents likely to be vaccinated more than younger Californians for the months of 2021. much more sexual.
“Currently, vaccination coverage has caught up with nearly everyone except children under the age of 18,” Brewer said. “We see a return to the previous state of age being still the most important risk factor for death.”
Over 86% of Californians age 65 and older have completed their first COVID vaccination series. However, vaccine protection weakened over time, and many older people were vaccinated early enough that enough time had passed between the second vaccination and the Omicron wave in early 2022 that the elderly could left vulnerable. About a third of Californians over the age of 65 said the Omicron wave had peaked. She had not received a booster by early 2022, and about a quarter had not yet received one. .
Geographical shifts in COVID prevalence have occurred throughout the pandemic. The outbreak hits one area, spares another, and months later another community acts as the epicenter.
Residents of the San Francisco and Oakland metropolitan areas accounted for 7.8% of state deaths in 2022 through early September, up from 5.4% in 2020-2021. About 12% of the state’s residents live in this area. The Sacramento metropolitan area also has a higher rate of COVID deaths this year, accounting for 6% in 2022 compared to 4.5% in 2020-21.
At the same time, residents of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim subway accounted for 42% of COVID deaths in 2022, down slightly from 43% in 2020-21. About 33% of the state’s residents live in this area. Similar flooding occurred in the nearby Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area.
Again, age can be a factor in geographic variation. According to Census data, her percentage of San Francisco and Sacramento residents over the age of 75 is higher than Los Angeles and Riverside.
It is unknown if this change will continue.As The Los Angeles Times reportedIn July, deaths from COVID increased at a faster pace in LA County than in the Bay Area.
The data also show that vaccination remains one of the strongest deterrents to COVID-related deaths. Between January and July, unvaccinated Californians were nearly five times more likely to die than vaccinated Californians. However, the gap has narrowed. From April to December 2021, the mortality rate among unvaccinated Californians was, on average, about 10 times higher than among vaccinated Californians.
Brewer said the Omicron variant was more likely than previous variants to “break through” and cause infection in vaccinated Californians, thus narrowing the gap. The Omicron variant was less deadly, but infected more people than previous variants.
This trend may also be short-lived. The next generation of his COVID booster shots are rolling out statewide.
Phillip Reese is a data reporting specialist and assistant professor of journalism at California State University, Sacramento. This article first appeared At California Healthline, produced by Kaiser Health News.
