On anniversary of first COVID case, vaccine eligibility expanded

Gov. John Bel Edwards marked Tuesday's anniversary of the first positive COVID-19 test in Louisiana by announcing expanded eligibility for vaccinations.

People as young as 16 are now eligible for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and as young as 18 for the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, provided they have one of 23 co-morbid health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the coronavirus.

"The availability of the vaccine is such that it's the right thing to do and the right time to do it," Edwards said at the press conference in Baton Rouge.

The good news was tempered by troubling signs in the state's COVID-19 statistics.

The steady decline in new COVID-19 cases and coronavirus hospitalizations since the mid-January peak of the third wave appears to have found its floor. The Louisiana Office of Public Health reported 631 confirmed and probable new COVID cases Tuesday.
Hospitalizations, which had fallen from more than 2,000 in January to fewer than 600 this month, have stayed close to Tuesday's figure of 543 for the last week, indicating the decline has leveled off.

"We've stopped improving," Edwards said, "and every time that has happened, there has been another surge."

Also, Louisiana has confirmed 20 cases of the more virulent UK variant of the coronavirus with another 74 cases probably caused by that form. Some estimates say that a quarter of new cases are now linked to the UK variant, said State Health Office Joe Kanter.

Easier transmissibility means more COVID cases, and more cases mean more deaths and hospitalizations.

"We are literally in a race against this virus, and that's one of the reasons we've expanded eligibility at this time," Edwards said.

That eligibility, which had been limited to people 55 and older, is now for those 16 an older with asthma, cancer, cerebral-vascular disease, chronic kidney or liver disease, Down syndrome, certain heart conditions sickle cell disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, obesity, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and certain immune system disorders. Smokers and pregnant women are also eligible.

New Centers for Disease Control guidance loosens some restrictions on those who are at least 14 days past the completion of their vaccination. The guidance says fully vaccinated people can::

--Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
--Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
--Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic

For now, fully vaccinated people should continue to:

--Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing
--Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
--Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households
--Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings
--Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
--Follow guidance issued by individual employers
--Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendation.

The number of vaccinations administered to Louisiana people now exceeds the 434,926 confirmed and probable COVID cases recorded in the state. The number of deaths confirmed to be or probably COVID-related is now at 9,769. Each death was commemorated Tuesday with a small white flag on the state Capitol grounds.

COVID-19 spread rapidly in Louisiana despite unprecedented control measures: a stay at home order and school closures last spring, early limits on elective hospital procedures unrelated to COVID, the closure of bars and other businesses deemed nonessential, limits on the number of customers allowed in other businesses, a statewide mask mandate, distance learning for students and work from home via computer for many employees, and limits on public gatherings, even church services.

Saddest of all, many of those who succumbed to COVID died without friends or family members at their side because visiting was prohibited as a safety measure.

"This has obviously been a year of great loss and heartbreak," Edwards said, "but we've come a long way since that first case a year ago."

On Tuesday, the Office of Public Health reported one new confirmed case in St. Mary, two in Assumption and a downward adjustment of eight in the St. Martin case count.

St. Mary and St. Martin each hand one new fatality listed as probably COVID-related.

St. Mary has now had 3,378 confirmed cases and 832 probable. The death toll is 109 with 14 probable.

St. Martin's case count is 4,460 confirmed with 419 probable, and 102 confirmed deaths with 11 probable.

Assumption has had 1,542 confirmed cases with 566 probable, and 29 confirmed deaths with five probable.