As omicron surges through the state and is now considered the dominant variant of the coronavirus, health officials are emphasizing the need to get the COVID-19 vaccine and booster to protect against the virus.
Dakota County Public Health Director Gina Adasiewicz gave an update on COVID-19 in the county during Tuesday’s county board meeting where she said getting the booster shot is the best defense against omicron.
Antibodies from two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson are not high enough to protect from omicron, Adasiewicz said.
“When you get a booster [antibodies] go up 25 times more, so it’s really protective to get that booster to really boost our antibodies to fight [omicron,]” she said.
Adasiewicz also emphasized that while breakthrough cases are more common with omicron, the vaccine is most successful at preventing hospitalization and death from COVID-19.
The left graph shows COVID-19 hospitalizations rates between people who are vaccinated and people who have not received their COVID-19 vaccine. The right graph shows the number deaths from COVID-19 split between people who had been vaccinated and those who had not been vaccinated.
“The great news is that we are vaccinating really high levels in Dakota County,” Adasiewicz said.
Almost 76 percent of Dakota County’s total population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, with 71 percent of the county having completed their full vaccine series. This data doesn't factor in booster doses.
Hastings’ has a slightly lower vaccination rate as 64.3 percent of the total population has received at least one dose, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Health.
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