CA COVID Rates Surge Among 'Highest In The Nation'

COVID-19 cases are surging again in California, and health officials warn delays in the Trump administration’s vaccine rollout could make matters worse.

Public health departments around the state are sounding the alarm over an uptick in cases, fueled by COVID subvariant Stratus.

"California's in the middle of a COVID-19 wave, and statewide rates are among the highest in the nation," said Dr. Matt Willis, former health officer of Marin County wrote in a blog post on Thursday.

Willis said COVID-related emergency department visits are more than twice the level they were last winter, but they remain below last summer's surge. For children under 12, those visits are rising quickly and are more than twice California's average, he said. And among those aged 75 and older, emergency room visits have nearly doubled in the past month.

In every corner of the state, wastewater data shows "high" COVID activity, he said.

Dr. Elizabeth E. Hudson, the regional physician chief of infectious diseases for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, told the LA Times that outpatient cases are increasing and with back-to-school season upon us, things could get much worse.

“We are expecting to see an uptick in COVID in children over the next few weeks, and this is already being seen in some parts of the country," she told the Times.

A Delayed Vaccine Rollout

The news of Stratus' takeover comes as the Trump administration has reportedly delayed the rollout of the updated fall vaccine. By June of last year, the federal government had already approved the annual update of the shot.

And this year, it's no secret that the Department of Health and Human Services is led by vaccine skeptic Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy has openly questioned mRNA vaccine technology and even dismissed all 17 experts serving on the CDC’s influential vaccine advisory committee.

In May, Kennedy announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would not longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women.

"Bottom line: it’s common sense and it’s good science," Kennedy wrote on X. "We are now one step closer to realizing [Trump's] promise to Make America Healthy Again."

Previously, the CDC recommended that everyone 6 months and older get an updated COVID vaccine.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco, recently told the LA Times that this could become a "super big barrier" for vaccination.

Despite updated guidance, the American Academy of Pediatrics says that it "strongly recommends" vaccines for children ages 6 months to 2 years. Meanwhile, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has also updated guidance recommending COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant and lactating women.

Dr. Willis says, "we’re in an unfortunate limbo, created by an administration that’s uncommitted to vaccines, between the slow shutting down of ’24-’25 vaccine availability and access to the ’25-’26 version. This is particularly concerning in California as our transmission rates continue to climb."

Willis, who runs Your Local Epidemiologist, offered the following tips regarding the slow vaccine rollout:

• If you’re in a higher-risk group, get a shot now if you can. "If you were my patient, were at high risk, and hadn’t had a Covid shot this year, I’d probably recommend getting the current vaccine if you can find it locally."
• If you can’t get vaccinated now, sign up for the new shot.
• Wear an N95 mask indoors. "Now’s a good time to mask in indoor public places if you’re in a high-risk group."
• Stay tuned to our social channels. "We’re trying to answer a few extra questions as they come up on Instagram and elsewhere."

READ MORE: New COVID Variant With This Distinctive Symptom Driving Up Cases In CA

What Is 'Stratus'?

The XFG COVID-29 varient, known as Stratus, is currently the dominant strain spreading around the U.S., according to the CDC.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Stratus accounted for 14% of COVID-19 cases in late June. Stratus was first detected in Southeast Asia in January, but didn't show up in U.S. surveillance reports until May, when it represented less than 0% of infections. The World Health Organization classified XFG as a "variant under monitoring" in June.

According to the World Health Organization, XFG is defined as a recombinant or hybrid of two omicron strains, LF.7 and LP.81.2.

“NB.1.18.1 (Nimbus) and XFG (Stratus) appear to be more transmissible compared to other variants,” Dr. Albert Ko, professor of public health, epidemiology and medicine at Yale School of Public Health, told TODAY.com.

The Stratus variant may be better than others at evading immunity protection, according to experts. Although vaccine guidance is changing, the CDC website still says the COVID-19 vaccine helps protect against "severe illness, hospitalization and death."

Stratus is similar in symptoms and seriousness to other Omicron variants, but it may present a never-before-seen symptom: hoarseness.

Here are more symptoms of the XDG Stratus Variant:

• Sore throat
• Voice hoarseness
• Fatigue
• Congestion or a runny nose
• Cough
• Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
• Fever or chills
• Muscle aches
• Shortness of breath
• Loss of sense of taste or smell
• Headache

READ MORE: 'Razor Blade' COVID-19 Variant Stratus Drives Up Cases In California