STOCKTON, California — With the omicron variant now detected in the U.S., health officials say its another reason to get a vaccinated if you haven't already.
"We didn't see a huge uptick in vaccination rates because of this news about the omicron variant and that could be good," said San Joaquin Public Health Officer Dr. Maggie Park. "It means people are not panicking quite yet. But, we're still seeing a steady flow at some of our vaccine events and our vaccination sites."
Park says, if you are on the fence about getting a booster, don't wait.
She says people should get the booster even if drug companies might be scrambling to create a new vaccine to combat the emerging omicron variant.
"We just don't know the timeline for that and the efficacy for those vaccines. What we do know is the delta variant still makes up 99.9% of all virus that we're sequencing," Park said.
It was coincidental that 56-year-old Carlos Gonzalez made an appointment to get his booster shot at the OG Packing & Cold Storage Company in East Stockton today.
The San Joaquin County Public Health clinic at the agricultural facility attracted 150 scheduled appointments and walk-in's as well.
"I thought why not get the booster on. It saves your life," Gonzalez said.
It's especially meaningful for the produce supervisor from Linden who says his two cousins died from COVID. Both were unvaccinated, a 27-year-old brother and a 32-year-old sister.
"So, that made us more to put it on because that will save your life," Gonzalez added.
OG Packing has also been very proactive. They've had six or seven vaccination clinics, including two booster events.
"We really want to support the ag industry. It's very crucial to our business and the whole population at large," said Guy Cotton, manager with OG Packing & Cold Storage Company.
Kevin Bennett was at the clinic to get his booster. He hadn't heard of the omicron variant.
"Anything that will help you with more protection is a good thing," Bennett said.
Dr. Park believes the vaccines available now have some efficacy against the omicron variant. She says COVID-19 case rates in the past couple weeks have trended downward in San Joaquin County.
However, cases could see an increase again in another week following gatherings for Thanksgiving.
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