SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) — About 3,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered Tuesday for the newly eligible ages of 5 to 11, the county's deputy county health officer told reporters Wednesday.
Since those ages were authorized to receive the Pfizer vaccine last week, nearly 7,780 doses overall have been administered.
"So seeing 3,000 on a Tuesday is really good," Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong said, adding that she expects the demand will be much higher on Thursday when students are off from school for Veterans Day.
The infection rate has been trending down among the vaccinated and unvaccinated, according to the most recent data from the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The case rate per 100,000 unvaccinated residents was 17.5 as of Oct. 30 but was down to 17 as of Nov. 6, the latest data available. For fully vaccinated residents, it was 3.6 as of Oct. 30 and 3.3 as of Nov. 6.
The county's weekly COVID-19 case rate per 100,000 residents increased from 7.2 last week to 7.3 Tuesday, while the test-positivity rate ticked up from 2.5% to 2.8%.
The county's Health Equity Quartile positivity rate — which measures progress in low-income communities — increased from 2.4% to 3%.
The number of coronavirus patients in county hospitals dropped from 225 on Tuesday to 218 on Wednesday, with the number of intensive care patients ticking down from 53 to 50.
The county had 24.6% of its intensive care unit beds available and 67% of its ventilators as of Wednesday.
The county also reported 218 new infections, raising the cumulative total to 307,988, and logged 11 more fatalities, increasing the overall death toll to 5,634.
The number of fully vaccinated residents in Orange County increased from 2,177,053 on Oct. 28 to 2,190,754 last week.
That number includes an increase from 2,032,863 to 2,045,291 residents who have received the two-dose regimen of vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna. The number of residents receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine increased from 144,190 to 145,463.
There are 185,936 residents who have received one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
As of Monday, 69% of the total population have received at least one dose, and 64% are fully vaccinated, Chinsio-Kwong said. When considering just eligible age groups 5 and older, 73% received at least one dose and 68% are fully vaccinated, she added.
Children ages 5 to 11 represent 8% of the county's population, Chinsio-Kwong said.
Seven of the fatalities logged Wednesday occurred last month, raising October's death toll to 73. One occurred in September, raising the death toll for that month to 170, close behind August's toll of 173.
Three of the fatalities occurred in January.
In contrast, the death toll before the more contagious delta variant-fueled surge was 30 in July, 19 for June, 26 for May, 46 for April, 200 for March, 615 for February, 1,588 for January — the deadliest month of the pandemic — and 977 for December, the next-deadliest.