Humboldt County reports 35th death
Humboldt County on Wednesday announced that a 35th resident has died with COVID-19, and 11 new cases were reported.
The resident who died was in their 70s.
The total number of county residents who have tested positive for the virus stood at 3,392. Two cases reported previously were determined to be duplicates, so they have been removed from the county’s case count.
Humboldt County Public Health and other approved local vaccinators have administered a total of 43,142 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday, an increase of 7,314 over the prior week, according to the Humboldt County Joint Information Center, which announced:
• 16,336 Humboldt County residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. That’s more than 12% of the county’s estimated total population and 14.5% of county residents who are age 16 or over and are currently eligible for vaccination.
• 20.3% of residents have received at least one vaccine dose, meaning 1 in 5 residents have at least some protection against the virus.
• More than half, or 51.8%, of county residents age 75 and over are fully vaccinated.
During a Tuesday media availability video, Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman declined to comment on a question about how 50 or so Humboldt County Superior Court employees received COVID-19 vaccinations even though they weren’t in the prioritized tier for vaccination.
The county recently opened up vaccinations to workers in the food and agriculture industry, ranging from grocery stores to dairy farms, and is set to open up vaccinations for people 65 and older and people between 16 and 64 with certain medical conditions, according to a March 11 press release.
“Vaccination priorities are set by the State of California, and the ability to vaccinate additional groups remains strictly limited by available supply,” the release states. “Without a significant increase in weekly allocation, it will be months before Humboldt County will have enough doses to vaccinate everyone in this sector.”