COVID-19 Vaccine Reality Check, Riverside County Uptick

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Amid a backdrop of hope that a vaccine against COVID-19 might be available sometime next year, Riverside County health officials Monday announced 924 newly confirmed cases of coronavirus and five additional deaths related to the illness, along with an uptick in hospitalizations.

The total number of coronavirus infections and deaths recorded countywide since the public health documentation period began in early March stands at 71,620 and 1,338, respectively, according to the Riverside University Health System.

RUHS officials, who do not release updated data on weekends, reported that 228 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, up 20 from Friday's figures. This includes 64 patients being treated in intensive care units countywide, up 10 from Friday.

In a joint news announcement Monday, biotech companies Pfizer and BioNTech said their COVID-19 vaccine was 90 percent effective in stage 3 trials, putting them on target to seek emergency approval from the U.S. Drug and Drug Administration by the end of November.

“Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO. “We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen."

Along with the efficacy data generated from the clinical trial, Pfizer and BioNTech are working to prepare the required safety and manufacturing data to submit to the FDA.

If regulatory approval is granted by the agency, the companies said current projections show production globally of up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.

In a news briefing Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that even if the vaccine gets approval this year, mass availability is months away.

“A vaccine is on the way. That’s good news. But the availability to you and me and others outside our first responders, outside our health care professionals is many many months off,” the governor said.

Newsom asked Californians to continue following coronavirus safety protocols amid an uptick statewide in new cases and hospitalizations.

“What a mistake it would be to read these headlines and then walk away from all the extraordinary progress you and others have made to keep yourselves and your loved ones safe,” he said.

As of last week, Riverside County had a case rate of 11.5 infections per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate of 5.9 percent. Both figures have increased in recent weeks, setting the county back under the state's color-coded coronavirus regulatory framework known as the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

Riverside County is currently in the state's "purple" or most restrictive tier under the Blueprint, meaning some businesses that had reopened in recent weeks were required to move operations outdoors or close again. The designation impacts gyms, restaurants, movie theaters, places of worship, zoos and museums.

The state updates the Blueprint data each Tuesday.