With the combination of colder weather keeping more people indoors and the further spread of the Omicron variant in the latest surge of COVID-19 cases, state public health officials are urging Californians to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible — especially children.
COVID-19 cases are on the rise again with an average of 110,497 daily cases. And health officials recommend Californians ages five and over to get vaccinated if they have not done so, and everyone six months or older get a flu shot.
It’s recommended that people 12 years or older who are vaccinated should also get a booster as long as they’ve received their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least five months ago or if they’ve received their Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago.
In some cases, children who contract COVID-19 face a life-threatening condition. As of Jan. 10, there have been 783 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a rare inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 that can damage multiple organ systems which can occur in children and teens 21 and under, reported statewide. MIS-C can require hospitalization and be life threatening.
More than half of MIS-C cases reported in California are Latino children and teens.
Officials are continuing to focus on the unvaccinated population and urge them to get vaccinated to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant. State collected data reports that unvaccinated people were almost four times more likely to get COVID-19, eight times more likely to be hospitalized, and 21 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people.
Currently, 81% of Californians are vaccinated.
Appointments for the Covid-19 and flu vaccination can be made at myturn.ca.gov or by calling (833) 422-4255. Parental or legal guardian consent may be needed for those under the age of 18.