Los Angeles County confirmed 1,315 COVID-19 infections Wednesday, marking the sixth consecutive day that new cases have topped 1,000.
These recent surges, health officials say, are blamed on the "Delta" variant of the coronavirus.
According to the most recent figures from the Department of Public Health, among county residents age 16 and older, 69% have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 61% are fully vaccinated.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti urged unvaccinated residents to get vaccinated.
“We have a pandemic among the unvaccinated. And I tell everybody, even if you had COVID, you’re either going to get COVID again or for the first time,” Garcetti told KNX. “It’s your call. One of them kills and the other one doesn’t.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl told KNX that she’s “befuddled” as to why residents are still unvaccinated.
“Half the people in LA county have gotten the vaccine,” Kuehl said. “All the people dying. All the people going into hospitals and 99.9% of the people testing positive are unvaccinated.”
The newly hospitalized in the county due to COVID reached 406 on Wednesday, well below the winter surge hospitalizations that topped 8,000, but almost double of the number of hospitalization numbers from last month.
Garcetti said says he has spoken to people who still have not gotten around to getting their shots or who said they’ve already got COVID.
“Those are folks who are vulnerable. This is a different variant. You can get COVID again. The antibodies wear off much quicker than the vaccine.”
The rate among Black residents, however, is only 45% with at least one dose, compared to 54% for Latino residents, 65% for white residents and 76% for Asians. Vaccination rates continue to be especially low among younger Black residents, with only 28% of those aged 18-29 vaccinated.
The LA County Board of Supervisors are considering taking the coronavirus vaccine on the road to reach out to Black and Latino communities. Garcetti said the City of Los Angeles is considering a similar outreach method.
The 1,315 new cases are the highest since early March, although county officials said the figure includes a small backlog of cases from Long Beach.
The new cases lifted the cumulative total from throughout the pandemic to 1,261,068. Nine more deaths were also reported, raising the virus death toll to 24,563.
Kuehl called unvaccinated residents “selfish” because of the risk of transmitting the virus.
“You are endangering everyone around you, because you could be carrying it or you could be spreading it,” she said. “Everyone ought to get vaccinated.”
City News Service contributed to this report