EL PASO COUNTY — There is some encouraging COVID-19 data out of El Paso County, likely influenced by the vaccine. "We're starting to see the effect of the previous month's vaccinations on serious illness,” said Fadi Youkhana with El Paso County Public Health.
The percentage of COVID-19 cases in El Paso County’s high risk of over 70 residents is dropping. "We've got to think about this in terms of vaccine timeline,” said Youkhana, “When you get vaccinated it's not an off/on switch it takes some time for your immunity system to pick up the vaccine for it to be effective."
COVID cases for January were at just over 7% for the over 70 group when vaccinations started. At the end of February, the percentage dropped to just over 5%. The percent went down even more to 2.8% by the end of March when more Coloradans over 70 than not had been fully vaccinated.
The good news for the over 70 crowd is tempered by the overall incidence in El Paso County going up. It means a higher number of cases in younger groups. Until more people are vaccinated COVID-19 prevention measures need to continue.
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