While the pandemic emergency in the United States has passed, the spread of COVID-19 isn’t over. So it’s still a good idea to take precautions and that includes staying up-to-date on the COVID vaccination schedule as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for your age group and immunity status.
According to data from Public Health — Seattle & King County, Asian Americans in King County have been doing a great job in this area. Around 39% of Asian residents are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters. That’s higher than the county average.
When it comes to COVID-19 cases, Asian residents had similar rates to the overall county. The number of reported cases among Asian Americans in the past six months was about the same as the rest of the population in King County. The same goes for the death rate due to COVID-19, which was also similar for Asian residents and the county as a whole.
When it comes to hospitalizations, Asian residents had a lower rate compared to the overall county. For every 100,000 Asian residents, there were about two hospitalizations on average, while the county had three hospitalizations. This means that even though more Asian Americans got sick, their cases were often less severe.
Public Health — Seattle & King County collects separate data for the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI) community. They faced higher rates of hospitalization compared to the county average. Their COVID-19 case rate and death rate were also higher than the overall county rates.
While the World Health Organization and the White House have ended their COVID health emergency declarations, UW Medicine expert Marion Pepper says COVID isn’t completely “over.”
“Everybody knows someone who’s been infected with COVID-19 over the last few months,” she said. “However, we are in a very different phase of this pandemic than we were even a year ago. In addition to vaccines that largely prevent severe illness and death, we also have effective antivirals like Paxlovid. So I think it is important to highlight that while the COVID health emergency is over, it is still OK to take precautions to keep yourself healthy.”
Microbiology Professor Deborah Fuller concurred.
“There are people left and right still getting COVID,” she said. :If you don’t want to have that happen, you’re best off maintaining antibodies against it at least every six months with an immunization.”
When asked their perspective on where we are with COVID now and how it’s changing, Fuller said, “What we’ve been living with are unpredictable waves of new COVID variants. We still don’t know if or when another wave may come. But we’re getting very close to where we may start seeing COVID surges more predictably, like the flu. Once that happens, it will be more manageable.”
“There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic, with the antiviral drug Paxlovid and with vaccines preventing hospitalizations and serious disease,” Pepper said. “We’re in a much, much, better place than we have been. Hopefully, that will continue.”
To learn more about COVID-19 vaccine distribution in King County, to go kingcounty.gov/covid/vaccine.
This health series is made possible by funding from the Public Health – Seattle & King County, which has no editorial input or oversight of this content.
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