Expecting 'Deluge of Omicron,' Santa Clara County Health Officials Urge Booster Shots, Masking

Santa Clara County public health officials on Thursday urged residents to get COVID-19 vaccine booster shots ahead of what they fear may be a widespread surge of new infections due to the omicron variant.

"When I look around the corner ahead, what I see is a deluge of omicron," said Dr. Sara Cody, the county's director of public health, in an afternoon press conference. "What I see is perhaps one of the most challenging moments we've had yet in the pandemic."

While Cody said the county has recorded only 10 cases of the omicron variant — none of which required hospitalization — she pointed to two factors that portend a surge in infections.

For one, omicron has now been detected in all four sewer sheds that county officials monitor, Cody said, indicating that the variant is present to some degree across most of the county's population. Cody also pointed to the recent sharp spike in infection rates in highly vaccinated European countries, such as Norway and Denmark.

Recent studies indicate that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are less effective against omicron than they have been against other strains of the virus. But tests also show that the heightened levels of antibodies in the blood of patients who received a booster shot of either vaccine have largely been successful in blocking the variant.

"We recommend booster shots for everybody who is eligible," Cody said. "What's really, really important to understand is that it's the booster that increases your protection again, and makes it much less likely that you'll go to the hospital or die, and much less likely that you'll spread the infection to someone who is at greater risk."

But she also emphasized that boosters alone are not enough.

"This is about layers of prevention," Cody said. "No single strategy works. We have to combine them. So in addition to vaccination and boosting, it's so important to mask."

Santa Clara County was not among the five Bay Area counties granted an exemption this week to California's new indoor mask mandate, meaning that people in the county must wear masks in most indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status.

With an eye to the upcoming holidays, Cody also recommended getting a rapid test before gathering indoors with others, and only gathering with those who also have been vaccinated and boosted.

Marty Fenstersheib, the county's COVID-19 vaccine officer, said 80% of the county's entire population has now been fully vaccinated. But as for boosters, "[we're] not doing as well," he said, noting that only 44% of eligible county residents 18 and older have received one so far.

Fenstersheib also noted the stark disparity in booster shot rates among the county's Black and Latino residents as compared to Asian and white people. Roughly 50% of eligible Asian and white residents have received boosters, he said, compared to only 35% of eligible Black and Latino residents.

"We have much work to be done in reaching out to communities in Santa Clara County, especially Latino and African American communities," he said.