Why California Has One of the Lowest Covid-19 Rates in the Nation – The New York Times

Heres some good news to start your morning: California has less Covid-19 transmission than any state in the country.

Thats according to federal officials, who on Wednesday ranked the states current coronavirus case rate the lowest in the nation.

Sure, there are mask mandates and other measures to credit, but most deserving of thanks is the Golden States high level of vaccinations.

More than 82 percent of Californians aged 12 and older have at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Only nine states have more of their populations immunized.

The surge of the Delta variant has been a real-life experiment in the effectiveness of vaccines, one that appears to have helped Gov. Gavin Newsom survive a recall election on Tuesday. For the most part, places with high vaccination rates have been protected from the virus.

And in California, the Delta surge appears to have done something else as well: pushed vaccination rates even higher.

The number of people getting vaccinated here began to stall in June, but then spiked as the Delta variant took hold in late July. Ultimately, about 1.6 million Californians got a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine in August, up from the 1.1 million who did so in July.

Its difficult to tease out what exactly led to the rise in vaccinations. California has recently mandated vaccines for state employees, teachers and health care workers. Theres also been new evidence of the strong protections the vaccines offer, even against the Delta variant.

Some Californians may have been persuaded to seek out a shot after witnessing first-hand harm wrought by the virus. Weve all heard stories of people hospitalized with Covid-19, struggling to breathe, and wishing they had gotten the vaccine.

Since early August, the biggest rise in vaccinations in California has been in the San Joaquin Valley, the Sacramento region and far Northern California parts of the state that have recently been hardest hit by coronavirus cases.

Those regions had low vaccination rates to begin with, so they admittedly had more room to increase. But its likely that some people were also influenced by seeing overwhelmed hospitals in their communities.

The question is: What gets you to make a different decision today than youve made the last few months? said UCSF epidemiologist Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo. I think fear is somewhat of a motivator, unfortunately.

Bibbins-Domingo told me she thinks that social pressure, community outreach and availability of the shots also play a role in who gets vaccinated. The coming months will reveal which strategies work best as California health officials try to encourage holdouts to get immunized.

The Delta variant is too contagious to wipe out, even in communities with high vaccination rates, Bibbins-Domingo said. But the shots will remain an essential part of minimizing future surges.

It all starts and ends with vaccination. It doesnt mean once you cross some magical threshold, the virus magically disappears, she told me. How many people are vaccinated its like how many barriers can you put up to withstand the onslaught.

For more:

Los Angeles County officials said Wednesday that proof of vaccination will be required to enter indoor bars, clubs and other drinking establishments starting next month.

Contra Costa County announced earlier this week that customers would have to show vaccine cards at bars, restaurants and gyms. San Francisco already has a similar mandate in place.

The unvaccinated are 11 times more likely than the vaccinated to die from Covid-19.

Look up Covid-19 rates in your California county with our coronavirus tracker. Or explore global trends in coronavirus spread here.

Researchers are beginning yearlong studies to examine any possible connections between vaccination and irregular menstruation.

California counties with the lowest vaccination rates were most likely to vote to oust Newsom, finds an analysis from The Los Angeles Times.

President Bidens proposal to make booster shots available to adults was supposed to roll out next week. But amid a chorus of dissent inside and outside government, the plans future is up in the air.

Read the full story from my colleagues.

Enjoy this cucumber salad with soy, ginger and garlic.

A writer went searching for Asian American history in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Read more about a California Gold Rush town called Chinese Camp.

UnderstandVaccine and Mask Mandates in the U.S.

Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. Well be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

Between the wildfires, pandemic and drought, this summer in California hasnt been easy.

So with Sept. 22 marking the end of the season, Im asking for you to share what has helped you make it through. Maybe it was a vacation you had postponed, a trashy TV show, a delicious meal you cooked or your nightly stroll.

Email me your favorite summer memory at CAtoday@nytimes.com along with your name and the city where you live. If you want to include a picture, please make sure its oriented horizontally.

Fewer than five percent of career firefighters in the nation are women. This camp in Northern California is trying to change that.

In 2018, Alameda County fire captain Kimberly Larson started a nonprofit that hosts camps for high schoolers across the Bay Area to introduce women to nontraditional careers like firefighting, reports The San Francisco Examiner.

At this years camp, smaller than usual because of the pandemic, enthusiasm was at an all-time high.

So many of them this time around said were going to be firefighters, San Francisco Fire Capt. Julie Mau told the newspaper. Just very, very self-assured, very determined.

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Why California Has One of the Lowest Covid-19 Rates in the Nation - The New York Times