Covid-19 hospitalizations take a dramatic fall but vaccinations and vigilance are still needed.

Only one person is currently hospitalized for Covid-19 in all of Monterey County as of today, down from a high of 217 patients on Jan. 15. That hospitalizations began falling after that date is no mistake. It's just a few weeks after vaccines became available to health care workers and near the start of vaccinations of the public.

That drop and the current low number of patients in hospitals is proof that Covid-19 vaccines work, doctors from three hospitals said on a county media briefing call today.

The single patient is being treated at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, said Craig Walls, the center's chief medical officer. The Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula checked out its last Covid patient on June 6, according to its infectious disease expert Martha Blum. Salinas Valley Memorial in Salinas and Mee Memorial in King City also have no Covid patients at this time.

Further proof that vaccines work, said SVMH infectious disease expert Mahendra Poudel, is that every patient at his hospital for the last two months were all unvaccinated, including some who were on ventilators or who died.

At CHOMP in the last 30 days, there have only been three patients with Covid admitted to the hospital and only five total positive tests, Blum said. "What we see are the vaccines are working and they are working very well," she said. The vaccines are also holding up against variants.

"You may be surprised at how good it feels to have this outstanding protection," Walls said, encouraging people who have not been vaccinated to do so as soon as possible.

The worry now is for those who are unvaccinated and the rise of more infectious Covid variants, including the delta variant which is 50-60 percent more transmissible than the original strain of Covid and more deadly, said Poudel. As of Monday, more than 433,000 people age 12 and older, or 66 percent of the population, have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the Monterey County Health Department.

So far the delta variant has not been detected in genetic sequencing tests done at the Monterey County Public Health Lab, but there have been cases in other parts of the state, Poudel said. Previously not all samples were tested for variants, but on June 22, the state required that all positive Covid tests be sent to labs for genetic sequencing to keep track of variants.

"Although we don't have cases of the delta variant right now it doesn't mean we won't see it in pockets of the unvaccinated population," he said. Blum said the most dominant strain currently circulating in the county is the alpha variant that originated in the United Kingdom. It is more transmissible than the original strain Covid.

Since children under age 12 are not yet eligible for a Covid vaccine it's important for as many adults around them to be vaccinated, the doctors said. It's a concern that summer camps are in full swing, but Blum said most summer camps are outside, which is helpful in preventing transmission. Children should be wearing masks and practicing social distancing, as required by the California Department of Public Health.

Covid testing is still important, the doctors said, and anyone experiencing symptoms related to the disease should be tested. Breakthrough infections, those that happen in people who were vaccinated, are possible.

Kim Stemler, representing the Covid-19 Collaborative through the Community Foundation for Monterey County, said the collaborative will bring vaccines or testing to any business, nonprofit, faith community or neighborhood group that can gather 10-20 people together. Information is available through the website montereycountyvaccines.com.

For information about where to get a Covid-19 test see the county testing webpage here.

Information about how and where to get a vaccine is also available on the Weekly's vaccination guide located here.