LA County Fire Department sees 'drastic decline' in positive COVID-19 cases after vaccinations

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles County Fire Department says it is seeing a "drastic decline" in the test positivity rate and the number of employees out sick with COVID-19 within its workforce.

"With a nearly 75 percent acceptance rate in our Department, the COVID-19 vaccine is allowing us to keep our first responders on track to stay as healthy as possible during these most challenging times of the pandemic," County Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby stated.

"With the second dose of the vaccine now being given to our team members, this will provide another layer of protection and allow us to continue to seamlessly provide the highest level of care to our patients."

WATCH: LAFD receives enough doses of COVID vaccine for department's firefighters

LAFD has received enough doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine to make shots available to all 3,400 members of the department over the next couple of weeks.

The department's weekly positivity rate was at 18% in December. That rate is now at 5.6%.

The fire department's Emergency Medical Services Bureau coordinated its first vaccination clinics countywide in late December, administering more than 3,000 vaccines.

"As expected, the vaccine began to have its impact seven to ten days after the first vaccines were given," said L.A. County Fire Department Medical Director Dr. Clayton Kazan stated. "As the County continues to surge, new cases among Department personnel began dropping precipitously as did our test positivity rate. This is the first time in the entire pandemic that our data diverged from that of the County."

Firefighters are expected to get their second doses this week.

The video above is from a previous report.