Los Angeles County expanding vaccination hours as COVID-19 rates spike
COMMERCE, Calif. (KABC) -- Los Angeles County is once again reporting more than 3,000 new cases of COVID-19 and more than 1,000 people hospitalized with the virus.
To combat the rise in cases seen in recent weeks, mostly among the unvaccinated, the county is now opening its five vaccine clinics on Sundays.
The Commerce senior center, for example, is now open Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. And that's helpful for people who work during the week.
"It's convenient," said Vanessa Haro of Commerce. "Sunday is the easiest time to come for us. We're not working."
Roughly 90% of the COVID-19 patients in local hospitals have not been vaccinated. The recent surge in cases is fueled by the Delta variant, which has been found to be far more contagious than other variants of the coronavirus and is now the majority of cases in the country.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, says more lockdowns are not likely, but the surge will continue to get worse unless the pace of vaccinations increases.
Fauci warns 'things are going to get worse' with COVID
On Sunday, Los Angeles County reported 3,045 new cases, making it more than 1.3 million since the start of the pandemic.
There were five additional deaths reported, for a total of 24,685. There are now 1,071 people hospitalized in Los Angeles County with COVID-19.
The Sunday vaccination hours will continue at least through September. Information about vaccination in Los Angeles County is available here.
