COVID infection rates drop among Whatcom’s fully vaccinated, but climbs among unvaccinated

While COVID-19 case rates continued to climb among Whatcom County’s unvaccinated and partially vaccinated residents during the second week of January, the fully vaccinated population saw a drop in case rates, according to data released by the Whatcom County Health Department.

Approximately 70% of Whatcom County’s 3,476 total COVID-19 cases reported between Jan. 9 and Jan. 15 (2,429 cases) were among people who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, according to the Whatcom County Health Department’s latest COVID-19 Data Report released Friday, Jan. 21.

Based on the 145,636 residents in the county who would have been fully vaccinated by Jan. 9, according to previous reports on the state dashboard, that leaves approximately 83,064 residents who were not fully vaccinated by that date, The Bellingham Herald’s analysis found. That means that the infection rate for Whatcom’s unvaccinated or partially vaccinated is 2,924 cases per 100,000 residents, which is up from the rate of 2,327 per 100,000 residents one week earlier (Jan. 2-8).

For comparison, the health department reported 1,047 COVID cases among fully vaccinated residents in the county between Jan. 9 and Jan. 15. That works out to an infection rate of 719 cases per 100,000 residents, The Herald’s analysis found, which is down from 845 cases per 100,000 residents one week earlier (Jan. 2-8).

The health department also reported that four of the seven COVID-related deaths reported between Jan. 9 and Jan. 15 were in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents. Among the deaths that week were:

▪ One unvaccinated woman in her 80s.

▪ One unvaccinated man in his 60s.

▪ One unvaccinated man in his 80s.

▪ One unvaccinated man between 100 and 109.

▪ One vaccinated woman in her 60s.

▪ One vaccinated woman in her 70s.

▪ One vaccinated man in his 80s.

COVID-related hospitalizations during the week of Jan. 9-15 also was heaviest among Whatcom unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, with 51 of 63 among those not fully vaccinated, the health department reported.

In the four weeks since Dec. 19, which is when Whatcom began to experience its omicron surge in cases, 67% of COVID-19 cases (5,717 of 8,586 total cases), 77% of COVID-related hospitalizations (112 of 146 hospitalizations) and 68% of COVID-related deaths (19 of 28 deaths) have been in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated residents, The Herald’s analysis of the county’s data showed.

As of Friday, the state reported that 350,870 vaccinations have been administered in Whatcom County — an increase of 5,754 reported doses last week — and that 70.3% of Whatcom’s total population had initiated vaccination and 64.5% has completed it. The state also reported 72,863 additional doses, which include extra doses administered to immunocompromised residents and booster shots, have been administered in the county.

According to the CDC, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or their single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

More Whatcom numbers

Whatcom County saw a slight drop in the number of reported cases last week, as it had 2,460 confirmed cases reported by the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard between Jan. 16 and Jan. 23. That was down from the pandemic-high 2,612 confirmed cases reported in the county one week earlier (Jan. 9-15).

With 428 new cases reported by the state on Friday, Whatcom County now has a pandemic total of 25,827 confirmed cases.

Other weekly Whatcom County COVID based on data released Friday on the state dashboard shows that:

▪ With an additional 186 probable cases reported Friday, Whatcom had 603 reported last week resulting from a positive antigen test not confirmed by a molecular test. That was up from 544 the week before and brought the county’s pandemic total to 3,088.

▪ Whatcom’s weekly infection rate stands at 1,423 cases per 100,000 residents based on the state’s most recently completed data from Jan. 2-8, which is up from 612 the week before (Dec. 26-Jan. 1). Whatcom currently has the sixth-highest weekly infection rate of the 39 counties in the state, according to the state dashboard.

▪ With three COVID-related hospitalizations reported Friday, Whatcom has seen 1,192 hospitalizations reported during the pandemic. The county had 52 hospitalizations reported last week, which was down from 65 the week before.

▪ Whatcom’s weekly hospitalization rate stands at 22.8 COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed data Jan. 2-8, which is up from 17.1 the week before (Dec. 26-Jan. 1). Whatcom currently has the 16th-highest weekly hospitalization rate of the 39 counties in the state, according to the state dashboard.

▪ St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported that it was treating 63 patients for COVID-related symptoms on Monday, Jan. 24, which was unchanged from Sunday, Jan. 23, and four fewer than the snapshots on Friday, Jan. 21, and Saturday, Jan. 22.

▪ The state is still working “to increase its capacity to process the increased testing data volume received in the last few months” by Feb. 28.

▪ The statewide Effective Reproductive Number (R-effective) shows that each person who tests positive for COVID-19 is estimated to infect 1.34 others as of Jan. 1, which is down from 1.80 on Dec. 25. Anything above 1.0 means that transmission of the disease is increasing.s

The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker on Monday continued to list the level of transmission in Whatcom County as “High” (the highest of four classifications). All of Washington state’s 39 counties and 99.8% of counties nationwide are listed in the “High” category.

Whatcom schools COVID update

The Herald’s analysis of data published by the Bellingham, Blaine, Lynden, Meridian, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley school districts, which list which schools cases are reported in, shows there have been 1,042 total cases reported in those districts since they returned from winter break. For comparison, those districts reported 902 total cases during the fall.

During the week of Jan. 9 to Jan. 16, the Bellingham, Blaine, Meridian and Nooksack Valley districts combined to report 419 cases, which was up from 285 cases reported in those four school districts the week of Jan. 2 to Jan. 8. The Lynden School District did not report any cases the week of Jan. 2-8, and the Mount Baker School District has not yet reported cases from the week of Jan. 9-16.

The Herald’s data analysis shows there have been a total of 379 cases reported in elementary schools (33.7 cases per 1,000 students), 229 cases reported in middle/junior high schools (43.5 cases per 1,000 students) and 354 cases reported in high schools (49.4 cases per 1,000 students) so far this school year. Another 80 cases have been reported in other district programs or facilities.

The COVID-19 dashboards on Whatcom County school district websites showed:

▪ Bellingham Public Schools has reported 473 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 39.2 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. In reports Friday and Monday, the district listed seven new cases with a possible exposure window of Jan. 10-14: one new case at Birchwood Elementary (five total), two new cases at Kulshan Middle School (eight total), three new cases at Lowell Elementary (11 total) and one new case at Squalicum High (23 total). The district also listed 93 new cases with a possible exposure window of Jan. 18-21: four new cases at Bellingham High (nine total), six cases at Birchwood Elementary, two new cases at Carl Cozier Elementary (three total), three new cases at Cordata Elementary (five total), one new cases at Fairhaven Middle School (three total), two cases at Geneva Elementary, two new cases at Happy Valley Elementary (three total), eight new cases at Kulshan Middle School (11 total), four cases at Lowell Elementary, six cases at Northern Heights Elementary, one case at Options High, 16 new cases at Sehome High (20 total), two cases at Shuksan Middle School, 25 cases at Squalicum High, two new cases at Sunnyland Elementary (three total), two cases at Wade King Elementary, two new cases at Whatcom Middle School (10 total) and two cases at non-school sites.

▪ Blaine School District has reported 182 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 78.3 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis.No new cases have been reported since Jan. 16.

▪ Lynden School District has reported 206 total COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 56.8 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. The district reported 96 cases with a possible exposure window of Jan. 10 to 14: 14 cases at Bernice Vossbeck Elementary, 15 cases at Fisher Elementary, 15 cases at Isom Elementary, one case at Lynden Academy, 15 cases at Lynden Middle School, 32 cases at Lynden High and four cases at the preschool. The district also reported 110 cases with a possible exposure window of Jan. 17 to 21: 11 cases at Bernice Vossbeck Elementary, 13 cases at Fisher Elementary, 10 cases at Isom Elementary, 29 cases at Lynden Middle School, 45 cases at Lynden High and two cases at the preschool.

▪ Meridian School District has reported 106 COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 58.1 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. No new cases have been reported since Jan. 14.

▪ Mount Baker School District has reported eight COVID-19 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 4.3 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. No new cases have been reported since Jan. 9.

▪ Nooksack Valley School District has reported 67 cases in its schools since winter break, or approximately 33.8 cases per 1,000 students, according to The Herald’s analysis. No new cases have been reported since Jan. 15.

▪ Ferndale School District reports that as of Monday, 86 students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days, down from 117 in the previous report. Of those, 55 people were on a school campus during their infectious period.