At least seven counties in Northern California have reported record numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations in August, with health officials urging local populations to get vaccinated and follow safety guidelines to prevent further strains on hospitals.
According to data from the California Department of Public Health, all-time-high hospitalization rates have occurred mostly in rural areas with large numbers of people who remain hesitant to get the coronavirus vaccine.
Amador, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Shasta and Tuolumne counties have all seen record high coronavirus hospitalizations this month.
Hospitals in the counties have reported limited hospital bed availability and full intensive care units as health workers attempt to keep up with the rising wave of serious cases caused by the highly contagious delta variant.
Most hospitalizations in the counties have occurred among patients who are unvaccinated, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Alexander Heard, a medical officer at Adventist Health Sonora, told the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors last week that the hospital did not have the capacity to accept any new coronavirus patients.
Adventist Health is the only hospital directly serving the county’s population of roughly 54,000 people, according to the Chronicle.
“We are full,” he said. “Our ICU is full. Our step-down unit is full.”
While California’s overall vaccination rate is relatively high compared to other U.S. states, the Northern California counties being hit with new case surges and hospitalizations have lower rates of people who have gotten the shot.
As of Wednesday, roughly 68 percent of California’s total population had received at least one dose, with 55 percent fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, the Chronicle noted Wednesday that in Del Norte County, just 41 percent of people are fully vaccinated.
Government entities and local businesses have been launching new pushes for people to get vaccinated following the news Monday that the Food and Drug Administration had granted full approval to the two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) became the first last month to announce a vaccine mandate for state employees and workers in health care and “high-risk congregate” settings.
The state earlier this month also announced that it would be requiring all public school teachers and staff to get vaccinated or submit to regular COVID-19 testing.