This weekend at all the County-run vaccination sites, the Department of Health Services vaccination sites, and the L.A. City vaccination sites, everyone 18 years and older coming to get their first vaccine will have a chance to enter the Los Angeles Lakers 2021-22 Season Ticket Vaccination Sweepstakes to win a pair of season tickets for next season.

For additional information, click [here]. With millions of residents still needing to get vaccinated, this is an exciting opportunity that allows those still not protected to get vaccinated and perhaps be the lucky person who gets to watch the Lakers pursue a championship.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 19 new deaths and 245 new cases of COVID-19, with 27,869 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Of the 19 new deaths reported Thursday, seven people that passed away were over the age of 80, seven people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, one person who died was between the ages of 50 and 64, and four people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49.

To date, Public Health identified 1,238,121 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 24,140 deaths. Testing results are available for nearly 6,672,000 individuals with 17% of people testing positive. Today’s daily test positivity rate is 0.5%. There are 356 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 23% of these people are in the ICU.

With nearly 4 million people in L.A. County that have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine (or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine), Public Health has good information to understand the level of protection that fully vaccinated people have from becoming infected, getting sick, or dying from COVID-19.

Among these fully vaccinated people, 933 people were identified who tested positive for a COVID-19 infection contracted more than two weeks after they were fully vaccinated. That means that about 0.03% of all vaccinated people tested positive for COVID-19. This includes people who were tested as a matter of routine requirement by their workplace, including asymptomatic people. Of fully vaccinated people, 71 of them, or 0.002%, were hospitalized for infections contracted while fully vaccinated. And 12 people died of their infections, or 0.00036% of vaccinated County residents.

On a review of the charts of the 12 people who died, Public Health found that four had severely weakened immune systems. This finding is a signal to people whose immune systems are suppressed may need to take additional steps to protect themselves in seasons and situations where COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses spread more easily.

These are real-world data that were collected by matching the immunization records of people fully vaccinated with those of people who tested positive, were hospitalized, and died. The DPH team uses a very sophisticated matching algorithm to find as many of these breakthrough cases as possible.

And the news from the analysis is very good: these numbers show the vaccine is working extraordinarily well to prevent infection, illness, and death in almost everyone vaccinated. This data is also shedding light on the need to gather more information on those whose immune systems are suppressed, to find out if they need to take additional precautions beyond the vaccine.

California Thursday Snapshot
The California Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 3,668,842 confirmed cases and 61,603 deaths to date. There are 1,394 confirmed hospitalizations and 346 ICU hospitalizations in the state.

Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.

There were 1,292 newly recorded confirmed cases Wednesday.

The 7-day positivity rate is 1.0%.

There have been 63,712,268 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 143,019 during the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As of May 20, providers have reported administering a total of 35,414,233 vaccine doses statewide. The CDC reports that 44,529,710 doses have been delivered to entities within the state. Numbers do not represent true day-to-day change as reporting may be delayed. For more vaccination data, visit the COVID-19 Vaccine Data Dashboard.

Health Care Workers

As of May 19, local health departments have reported 110,453 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 458 deaths statewide.

Santa Clarita Valley Thursday Update
As of 7:00 p.m. Thursday, the L.A. County Public Health dashboard remained unchanged from Wednesday recording 303 SCV deaths from COVID-19.

The following is the community breakdown of the 303 SCV residents who have died, according to the L.A. County dashboard:

259 in Santa Clarita (***revised from 260)

18 in Castaic

6 in Acton

6 in Stevenson Ranch

4 in unincorporated Canyon Country

3 in Agua Dulce

1 in unincorporated Bouquet Canyon

1 in Elizabeth Lake

1 in Lake Hughes

1 in Newhall

1 in unincorporated Saugus/Canyon Country

1 in Valencia

1 in Val Verde

Of the 27,869 cases reported to Public Health for the SCV to date, the community breakdown is as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 20,405

Castaic: 3,734

(includes Pitchess Detention Center and North County Correctional Facility*)

Stevenson Ranch: 1,156

Canyon Country (unincorporated portion): 846

Acton: 477

Val Verde: 337

Agua Dulce: 282

Valencia (unincorporated portion west of I-5): 194

Saugus (unincorporated portion): 132

Elizabeth Lake: 76

Newhall (Unincorporated portion): 68

Bouquet Canyon: 47

Lake Hughes: 42

Saugus/Canyon Country: 40

Sand Canyon: 17

San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon: 15

Placerita Canyon: 1

*Note: The county is unable to break out separate numbers for Castaic and PDC/NCCF because the county uses geotagging software that cannot be changed at this time, according to officials. Click here for the LASD COVID-19 dashboard.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Thursday Update
As of Thursday, the hospital had four cases pending, four patients were hospitalized in a dedicated COVID-19 unit, and no additional discharges, hospital spokesman Patrick Moody said.

There were also no additional deaths, keeping the total deaths at 147 people to date. The most recent death was March 21.

Privacy laws prohibit the hospital from releasing the community of residence for patients who die there; that info is reported by the L.A. County Public Health COVID-19 dashboard, which generally lags 48 hours behind.

L.A. County

“For all the families, friends and coworkers mourning the passing of a loved one to COVID-19, we wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Our transmission levels in L.A. County continue to remain low and stable, and one reason why is because the vaccines are so powerful and effective. I’d like to encourage the 40% of County residents who are fully vaccinated to talk to someone in their life who isn’t already vaccinated and tell them about your positive story. This could be a family member, neighbor, friend, or co-worker. If every single fully vaccinated person in L.A. County helped just one unvaccinated person get their first dose we’d have 3.9 million more vaccinated people, and we’d reach the level of community immunity we need to insulate and protect all of us as we fully re-open.”

COVID-19 vaccinations are available at County-run sites and many community sites without an appointment. Anyone 12 and older living or working in L.A. County can get vaccinated. For now, only the Pfizer vaccine is approved for children, so make sure to go to a site that administers the Pfizer vaccine for children and teens. Teens 12 to 17 years old need to be accompanied by a parent, guardian, or responsible adult.

COVID-19 vaccines are free to everyone who wants one; you should never be sent a bill or be charged a co-pay for a COVID vaccine, regardless of whether you are insured or whether you got vaccinated at your doctor’s office, by a provider outside your network, or at a city or county site. If you get a bill from your insurance carrier, contact them to clarify what the charge is for. If you are billed at a vaccine site, you should report this to the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs.

To find a vaccination site near you, to make an appointment at vaccination sites, and much more, Visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) If you don’t have internet access, can’t use a computer, or you’re over 65, you can call 1-833-540-0473 for help finding an appointment or scheduling a home-visit if you are homebound. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

County Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional actions you can take to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

California Thursday

Additional data and udpates:

Tracking COVID-19 in California

State Dashboard – Daily COVID-19 data

County Map – Local data, including tier status and ICU capacity

Data and Tools – Models and dashboards for researchers, scientists, and the public

Blueprint for a Safer Economy– Data for establishing tier status

COVID-19 Race & Ethnicity Data – Weekly updated Race & Ethnicity data

Cases and Deaths by Age Group – Weekly updated Deaths by Age Group data

Health Equity Dashboard – See how COVID-19 highlights existing inequities in health

Tracking Variants – Data on the variants California is currently monitoring

Safe Schools for All Hub – Information about safe in-person instruction

School Districts Reopening Map – data on public schools and reported outbreaks

Vaccine Eligibility Update

Individuals aged 12+ are eligible for vaccination. Visit myturn.ca.gov to make an appointment. Individuals aged 17 and younger may need the consent of a parent or legal guardian for vaccination. Visit Vaccinate All 58 to learn more about the safe and effective vaccines available.

Blueprint for a Safer Economy

All counties are under the rules and framework of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and color-coded tiers that indicate which activities and businesses are open based on local case rates and test positivity. As always, local public health departments may implement policies that are more restrictive than the state.

Blueprint Summary as of May 17

0 counties in the Purple (widespread) Tier

10 counties in the Red (substantial) Tier

35 counties in Orange (moderate) Tier

13 counties in Yellow (minimal) Tier

Blueprint tiers are updated weekly on Tuesdays. Find the status of activities in specific counties.

Testing Turnaround Time

The testing turnaround time dashboard reports how long California patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results. During the week of May 2 to May 8, the average time patients waited for test results was just under one day. During this same time period, 84% of patients received test results in one day and 96% received them within two days.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

As of May 17, there have been 520 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) reported statewide. MIS-C is a rare inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 that can damage multiple organ systems. MIS-C can require hospitalization and be life threatening.

Your Actions Save Lives
Protect yourself, family, friends and your community by following these prevention measures:

– Get vaccinated when it’s your turn. Californians age 16+ are eligible to make an appointment.

– If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches), call your health care provider.

– If you believe you have been exposed, get tested. Free, confidential testing is available statewide.

– Keep gatherings small and outdoors and follow state and local public health guidance.

– Wear a mask and get the most out of masking – an effective mask has both good fit and good filtration.

– Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

– Delay non-essential travel outside of California until you are fully vaccinated. Follow California’s travel advisory.

– Avoid close contact with people who are sick and stay home from work and school if you feel ill.

– Add your phone to the fight by signing up for COVID-19 exposure notifications from CA Notify.

– Answer the call or text if a contact tracer from the CA COVID Team or your local health department tries to connect.

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

– Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

– California Department of Public Health

– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

– Spanish

– World Health Organization

L.A. County residents can also call 2-1-1.

What to Do if You Think You’re Sick
Call ahead: If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough or shortness of breath), call your health care provider before seeking medical care so that appropriate precautions can be taken. More than 85 community testing sites also offer free, confidential testing: Find a COVID-19 Testing Site.

For more information about what Californians can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19, visit Coronavirus (COVID-19) in California.

California continues to issue guidance on preparing and protecting California from COVID-19. Consolidated guidance is available on the California Department of Public Health’s Guidance webpage.