COVID’s Delta variant reaches Fresno, Valley as local vaccination rates lag behind
A coronavirus variant that has been quickly spreading globally since surfacing in India last winter has arrived in Fresno County and nearby central California counties, bringing with it the potential to create a new surge of COVID-19 cases among the large number of unvaccinated people in the region.
Dr. Stephanie Koch-Kumar, an epidemiologist with the Fresno County Department of Public Health, reported Friday that multiple cases of the Delta coronavirus variant have been confirmed in the county, including some people who have come down with symptoms of the disease.
But, she added, the number of those sickened or hospitalized by the strain remains uncertain because so few coronavirus tests include further analysis to determine whether the case represents one of a number of variants of COVID-19.
Koch-Kumar’s acknowledgment on Friday came a day after health officials in Tulare County reported the first confirmed Delta variant case there.
The Delta, or B.1.617.2, coronavirus variant “is really picking up speed” around the world, Koch-Kumar said. In the United Kingdom, it has become the dominant strain, overtaking what was known as the Alpha or U.K. strain of the virus, she added.
Early research suggests that the variant not only spreads faster among the population, but also appears to have an increased risk of causing more severe illness resulting in hospitalizations, Koch-Kumar said.
While current vaccines appear to be somewhat less effective against the Delta variant in preventing infection, studies indicate that the shots remain effective at preventing severe illness or hospitalization from the disease.
Fresno County has a larger percentage of its population vaccinated than neighboring counties in the central San Joaquin Valley, but the 37.4% of all residents who are fully vaccinated in Fresno County lags well behind the statewide rate of 48.1%. It’s also well short of the goal set months ago by county health officials to get 65% to 75% of the total county population vaccinated by the end of this summer.
As of Thursday, more than 378,000 Fresno County residents who are eligible to receive a vaccine – people age 12 and older – have not even received one dose of vaccine.
“I’m very concerned. I think this is another perfect storm brewing … for people who are already vulnerable,” said Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer.
“They may have underlying medical illness, they may have poor access to care, they’re not vaccinated, and now here comes this variant that is proving itself to be a real contender in terms of what damage it can do to people’s lives and land them in the hospital.”
Because of the large numbers of people who have put off or refused to get their shots, he added, “this variant is going to trigger another crisis within that unvaccinated population.”
One troubling aspect of the spread of the Delta strain in the U.K. is “they are definitely seeing it in younger age groups,” Koch-Kumar said. “They’re seeing a lot of outbreaks associated with it even in their primary and secondary schools.”
That’s significant because as the strain shows up more frequently in the U.S., including California and the San Joaquin Valley, the vaccines that have received emergency use authorization from the Food & Drug Administration are still not approved for children under the age of 12. That represents more than 190,000 children in Fresno County.
“Currently those younger age groups are not vaccinated, …” Koch-Kumar said. “We want to try to protect them by getting protection built up around them to keep them safe from this new variant” by getting adults vaccinated.
The rise of the Delta variant comes even as Fresno County and neighboring counties struggle to increase the proportion of people who are vaccinated. Over the past two months, demand for vaccines has fallen off a cliff, and Fresno County expects to close most of its major large-scale vaccination sites by the end of this month.
That includes clinics at the Fresno Fairgrounds and state-contracted OptumServce vaccination sites in Reedley, Sanger, Selma and Kingsburg, said Joe Prado, interim assistant director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health.
Instead, the county plans to intensify its efforts on mobile and pop-up vaccine clinics in neighborhoods that are lagging in vaccination rates across the county. By the end of June, Prado said the county will have partnered with community organizations on more than 50 vaccine events, with at least 35 more planned in July.
This story was originally published June 25, 2021 at 3:31 PM.
