Marin bucks statewide COVID-19 reinfection trend: “we’re not seeing the same pattern”

The number of people reinfected with COVID-19 in Marin County has remained below the state average thus far.

According to the most recent weekly data from the state, more than 14% of new COVID infections during the week of July 16 were among Californians who had previously tested positive at least once.

More than 50,000 documented reinfections occurred in the first three weeks of July, accounting for 1 in 7 new COVID cases through the middle of the month, according to recent data from the public health department of California.

The amount of repeat infections nationwide is constantly increasing as the state approaches 10 million cases since the pandemic started. Most of the time, cases like the one that President Biden is experiencing, which is believed to be linked to his use of the antiviral medication Paxlovid, don’t involve “rebound” infections.

“If 1 in 7 cases are reinfections, it begs for a new research agenda to understand the risk factors,” said Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Wachter emphasized that although the data show how frequently they occur, researchers do not currently have reliable information on the severity of the reinfections or how frequently they result in protracted COVID symptoms.

The public health officer for Marin County, Dr. Matt Willis, stated on Tuesday that “we’re not seeing the same pattern as much in Marin.”

According to Willis, the rate of reinfection in Marin has been roughly stable since June at 6%. The percentage has increased from less than 2% in November 2021, before the omicron variants of COVID-19 took over in Marin.

According to Willis, there are two reasonable reasons why Marin’s reinfection rate has remained far below the state average, at least thus far.

More than 90% of the county’s citizens have received all vaccinations. However, vaccinations continue to offer the majority of people immunity from a serious illness requiring hospitalization while being less effective at preventing people from contracting omicron variants.

As a result, the number of Marin residents becoming sick increased significantly as the omicron variations of the disease became the dominant strains there.

“During that chapter of the pandemic in early 2022,” Willis said, “Marin had higher case rates than counties with lower vaccination rates.”

Because so many people in Marin have received vaccination booster doses, according to Willis, there may be fewer reinfections. More than 65 percent of Marin County residents have had at least one booster shot in addition to their baseline vaccinations, and more than 22 % have received both.

Despite the fact that immunity, bestowed by either previous infection or vaccines, wanes more quickly with omicron, “you can renew that immunity with a second booster,” Willis said.

“Our rates of infection among people who have had the second booster are significantly lower than those who have had only one,” he said.

“It’s important to fall back on the basics: Vaccines still prevent severe illness and death, and good face coverings can prevent infection,” Willis said.