Days after Los Angeles County recommended face coverings for all residents regardless of whether they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19, California’s top public health official on Wednesday said the state’s most important course of action as the Delta variant spreads is to "ensure everyone who is eligible gets vaccinated."
Dr. Tomás Aragón, California Public Health Officer and Director of the state Department of Public Health, said in a statement provided to KCBS Radio on Wednesday that businesses and local governments are free to enforce stricter rules than the state, which doesn’t require vaccinated individuals to wear masks indoors in alignment with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
LA County did just that on Monday, recommending everyone wear masks indoors in public regardless of their vaccination status. As of a couple weeks ago, officials said over half of the variants sequenced in the county were the Delta variant, which is far more contagious than any of its predecessors.
Dr. Aragón said vaccinations remain the best method of limiting the variant's spread.
"The risk for COVID-19 exposure and infection will remain in California until we reach community immunity with vaccinations," he said Wednesday. "COVID-19 vaccines provide excellent protection from serious disease, even for the Delta variant."
Nearly 69% of eligible Californians have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 59% of people aged 12 or older fully vaccinated. Those percentages are similar among LA County residents who are at least 16, but the county and state also have significant disparities along racial lines.
Fewer than 45% of Black residents above the age of 16 had been at least partially vaccinated as of June 25, as had 53.4% of Latino residents. Meanwhile, 64.8% of white residents had received one dose, and so had 74.9% of Asian residents.
Across the state, Black and Latino residents have received 3.9% and 28.1% of first vaccine doses so far, respectively, despite making up 5.7% and 39.4% of California’s vaccine-eligible population. White residents, comprising 38.2% of the vaccine-eligible population, have received 35.5% of first doses.
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