The Crosstown Vaccine Tracker

As the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health continues to focus on administering first and second doses to local residents, vaccination sites are also preparing to make boosters available. On Oct. 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices approved boosters for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, following the approval of Pfizer’s booster in late September. The FDA and CDC are also expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5-11 in early November. With the Vaccine Tracker, Crosstown is following the latest coronavirus trends to deliver the most important data about infections and inoculations.

Getting jabbed

In the week of Oct. 8-14, a total of 162,665 doses were administered in Los Angeles County, including 45,556 second doses. Although the overall figure is a 25% decrease from the week prior, it is up from the 135,000 shots given out in the week before that, according to the Department of Public Health.

As of Thursday, a total of 12,926,625 doses had been administered in the county, and 5,676,439 second doses had gone into arms. 

According to the Department of Public Health, 77.6% of the approximately 2.9 million county residents who are ages 30-49 have received at least one dose. Of the 2 million people who are 50-64, an estimated 81.8% have taken at least one jab. 

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Case by case

On Oct. 17, the seven-day COVID-19 case average dipped below 1,000 for the first time since mid-July. By Thursday, it had climbed back up to 1,065, increasing by 4% from one week prior. It is unclear if this is due to cooler weather, which tends to send people indoors, where the coronavirus can be transmitted more easily.

Daily coronavirus case count and seven-day average, Sept. 1-Oct. 21

On Oct. 13, the seven-day average of deaths fell below 20 for the first time since mid-August. Yesterday, it rose back to 19, marking a 5.5% increase from the previous week. 

On Thursday, 613 people in Los Angeles County were hospitalized with COVID-19. That is the lowest level since July 21, and represents a 40.7% drop from the more than 1,000 county residents hospitalized just one month ago.

On Sunday, the daily test positivity rate fell to 0.7%, a level not seen since late June. On Thursday, it had climbed slightly, but still remained at a relatively low 0.9%.

The Los Angeles Unified School District does its own weekly testing of students and staff. From Oct. 15-21, the district conducted 460,493 tests, which yielded 418 positive results. That works out to a 0.09% positivity rate, meaning fewer than one of every 1,000 tests is positive.

Vaccinations by location

Total vaccinations continue to rise slowly across the region. However, not all neighborhoods enjoy equal protection. Lower-income communities of color tend to see people vaccinated at a slower pace than wealthier areas with greater numbers of white inhabitants (Asian residents have the highest vaccination rate of any ethnic group in the county). This has continued despite more aggressive outreach in Black and Latinx communities. 

According to the Department of Public Health, nearly 100% of the residents 12 and older in the neighborhoods Rancho Park, Playa Vista and Westchester have received at least one dose of a vaccine (for communities in the city of Los Angeles with more than 5,000 shots administered). The neighborhoods of Cheviot Hills and Century City have each seen more than 90% of residents vaccinated.

City of Los Angeles neighborhoods with lowest vaccination rates 

The communities of Thai Town, Westwood and Vermont Vista are among those at the other end of the spectrum. Just 60.9% of the inhabitants of Thai Town have gotten at least one shot in the arm, the lowest level of any community in the city.

How we did it: We analyzed coronavirus data related to new cases, deaths, hospitalization and vaccinations data provided by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, as well as data from the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Interested in our data? Check out the Crosstown coronavirus interactive map or email us at askus@xtown.la.