
The county’s 7-day cumulative transmission rate as estimated by the U.S. And many of today’s vaccination opponents were strong allies in making the case against widespread economic and school shutdowns.Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Tests Positive For Covid-19 I was an outspoken critic of lockdowns, even at the height of the pandemic. While recognizing that many individuals are at low risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes and that vaccines are not always risk-free, for most individuals the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risk and getting the shot also helps protect friends and family.

As more people get vaccinated, our communities reach higher levels of herd immunity, decreasing the likelihood that individuals will become seriously ill regardless of political ideology. Vaccines should not be a political issue.

While it may be tempting to lambaste the vaccine-hesitant as ignorant or politically motivated, such rhetoric is counterproductive. However, policymakers predisposed to shutdowns frequently note that unvaccinated younger people can get and spread COVID-19 to more vulnerable elders. Vaccination rates are lower in younger age groups, which is understandable since younger people face much lower mortality risk. Olivia Kasirye recently wrote to the Sacramento Bee. The majority of cases are among those who were not vaccinated,” Sacramento County health officer Dr. “We continue to see day-to-day increases of new COVID cases. “Over 99% of the COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths we are seeing are among unvaccinated individuals,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement on July 12. Most observers blame the uptick on the more transmissible Delta variant hitting unvaccinated populations.

Hundreds of gyms and fitness centers also closed, resulting in a reduction in physical health for many Californians.Īfter bottoming out in June, COVID-19 case rates are once again rising in California, which is making city and state leaders nervous. While some restaurants would have failed under any government policy given the reasonable reluctance of many to dine indoors or near strangers, the state’s strict lockdown made matters much worse. The last thing school-aged children need this fall is an increase in cases causing another panic that closes schools to in-person learning.Īdditionally, upwards of 30% of California restaurants permanently closed during the pandemic, eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Millions of California school children received over a year of subpar remote education, crimping their learning outcomes and social development. To help avoid this disturbing prospect, Californians should encourage each other to get vaccinated.
#Lockdown news los angeles free
While we are now free of the state’s 17-month long COVID-19-related lockdowns, restrictions remain a real possibility again in the fall and winter. As debates continue to rage over vaccines and masking, beyond the 63,000 COVID-19 deaths suffered in the state, it is often easy to move past the other negative impacts that California’s widespread business and school closures had on kids, families and small businesses.
