The Delta variant is spreading in Kings County, public health officials say the best protection against the spread of the virus is vaccination and there are three main ways to get a shot in the area.
Public Health Director Ed Hill said after nine months of organizing vaccinations, the County has made it possible for any eligible person to get inoculated.
âThe analogy I use is if you were a football player, you wouldnât go out on the field without a helmet,â Hill said. âWhen it comes to protecting yourself and your loved ones, right now vaccines provide the greatest level of protection.â
The Public Health Department warned of a possible COVID-19 case surge and the importance of vaccinations to curb the threat on Tuesday, during a county commissioners meeting.
Public Health Director Ed Hill said the County has recorded two more cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant since it first surfaced in the area two weeks ago, bringing the total to five cases. Hill also said the caseload jumped by 70 in the last week.
The Delta variant is now considered the dominant variant in California, Hill said, and poses a particular danger to the unvaccinated. Along with the spread of Delta, California has started seeing increased COVID-19 cases, with LA county seeing 3,000 new positive cases in three days, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Kings County Public Health Department announced Tuesday the first three confirmed cases of the delta COVID variant in the county.
The announcement said the delta variant now accounts for more than 35% of cases in the state. Public Health Director Ed Hill said the new variant is highly transmissible and moves quickly through areas with low vaccination rates, like Kings County.
According to Yale Medical School, in an environment without masks or vaccines someone with the original variant would, on average, infect 2.5 other people, but someone with the delta variant would infect 3.5 or four other people.
While the county is monitoring hospital statistics and keeping a back stock of personal protective equipment and contact tracing staff, Hill said the department is encouraging all people, whether they are vaccinated or not, to continue wearing a mask and avoiding large crowds until more is known about the variant.