Where I Stand: Covid, vaccinations and face masks in Plumas County

Dana Loomis, PhD, Plumas County Director of Public Health

Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, the Plumas County Health Officer moved before state authorities to issue an order requiring face masks in public spaces.  Although we didn’t yet know very much about this new disease, masks were one of the only tools available at the time and we knew they could reduce the spread of respiratory infections.

Now, 18 months into this pandemic, we know much more about Covid and we have a much stronger weapon against it: vaccination.  Vaccination is one of the most powerful tools we have for stopping epidemic disease; it’s the reason we no longer think about so many diseases that plagued previous generations, like TB, polio, whooping cough and diphtheria. Vaccination is so effective because the microbes that cause disease need to infect large numbers of people in order to survive.  By helping people develop immunity to infection, vaccination not only prevents individuals from becoming ill, it also reduces the number of people who are available for the organisms to infect.  Immunity from vaccination also tends to be long-lasting, so if enough people become immune, the infection will eventually stop spreading and die out.

Vaccination is even more important now that the so-called “Delta variant” of the coronavirus is propelling a new surge of Covid cases in unvaccinated people across the country.   We’re seeing a similar increase in Covid cases locally: the incidence of new Covid cases in Plumas County is about 10 times higher now than it was for most of the spring and summer, about the same as the average for California.

In spite of the sudden increase in case numbers, vaccination is providing strong protection against Covid-19.  We know from the experience of millions of people around the world that, although vaccinated people can develop disease on rare occasions, the vaccines still prevent nearly all risk of hospitalization and death and greatly reduce the chances of becoming infected and transmitting the disease.  Our local data from Plumas County show that the risk of developing confirmed Covid is 15 to 20 times higher in unvaccinated compared to vaccinated people.  And importantly, we have not recorded any local deaths or serious side-effects from the vaccine.  Plumas County Public Health strongly recommends vaccination for everyone over 12 years old, including pregnant and breastfeeding women and people who have already had Covid.

Of course, there are other public health measures that can be implemented if the situation calls for them.  We strongly endorse state and federal recommendations for masking indoors.  However, we also recognize that any mandate imposes a burden on the public who would be asked to comply with it, and on businesses, law-enforcement and health officials who might be expected to enforce it.

After considering local conditions and possible courses of action, we have decided not to issue a new county mask mandate at this time.    Mask mandates have been shown to limit the spread of Covid-19 in the absence of vaccination, but they are most effective when the virus is being transmitted mainly in public places where mask-wearing can be required and enforced.  That approach would be less effective in the current situation in Plumas County, where most transmission is occurring within households or in worksites, where OSHA regulations already require unvaccinated employees to wear masks.

Although we have determined that a local mask requirement is not justified at this time, we are watching the local situation closely and will consider all of the available options if the situation changes.