Indy Day Parade: The crowd at the 2016 Independence Day. (Photos submitted)
July 4th celebrations enjoyed by thousands in the Eastern Sierra, most of whom were confident in their Covid-19 vaccination shots
Most Eastern Sierra residents and visitors enjoyed a good Fourth of July celebration with friends and family, complete with barbeques, public fireworks (which fortunately did not start any major wildfires despite concerns), well-attended parades on main streets, and community gatherings with food, music, and fun activities for families.
Many of those that Sierra Wave News spoke with at community events seemed confident or at least hopeful that the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic is in the past, especially those that say that they had been vaccinated. They universally have high confidence in the effectiveness of the vaccines given the dramatic drop in Covid-19 cases and deaths.
With infection rates of Covid-19 remaining low after mass vaccination clinics in both Inyo and Mono counties, leaving those vaccinated with the choice of going without a face mask in most situations, there is a sense of optimism that the worst might be over. Inyo County reports that 58.2% of its population is fully vaccinated, while 66.3% pf the population has had at least one does. Statewide that compares with 59.2% of the population Fully Vaccinated and 69.2% with at least one dose.
New positive cases of Covid-19 in Mono County have effectively “flat-lined” over the past 15 days at 0% (zero percent). Inyo County appears to have only 3 new positive cases over the past 7 days.
What is increasingly of concern is the increase in those contracting the much more infectious Delta Variant of Covid-19 in California, replacing the original Alpha variant. Fortunately, the current vaccines appear to be effective against the newer variants.
What is not such great news is that there are parts of the country in which Covid-19 rates are rising, largely in states with low vaccination rates especially in the Southern states despite pleas from those states’ governors.
More concerning is that a larger percentage of those testing positive nationally for Covid-19 are increasingly pediatric cases.
99,2% of all recent deaths from Covid-19 are unvaccinated as are almost all hospitalizations
Recent reports are showing that 99.2% of those who are still dying from Covid-19 are unvaccinated, as are most of those being hospitalized.
Both Inyo and Mono counties are continuing to offer free testing and vaccinations to residents. Contact your local health department for more information or to schedule an appointment for a vaccination, visit MyTurn.gov.com or call 1-833-422-4255.
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Happy to live in a county and state with an above average vaccination rates. And a big thank you to all of the citizens, neighbors, friends and family who’ve acted responsibly and taken this pandemic seriously. The naysayers will always be there, but they’re just background noise at this point. Glad we can move on.
What a load of propaganda rubbish this is. Absolutely shameful.
Very interesting….Bridgeport had their protest parade last year, 2020. BLM had their protests, so we thought we could have ours too. Bridgeport had hundreds of people in attendance, most people did not have masks. Was it a “super spreader” event? Nope. And no local media wanted to report that FACT.
Did people die during this Rona time? Yes…. And I am not lessening those deaths. But please, please, put all the facts in perspective and quit scaring people…..
Mono Person,
To the best of our knowledge, none of the local protest meetings/rallies/protests in Inyo and Mono counties were ever proven to be super spreader events, although there were concerns beforehand that they “might” be. On the other hand, some large gatherings around the country did appear to be super spreader events. Others not so much. Like so much about this pandemic, the new coronavirus has often proved confounding even to the experts.
None of the local media covered the “super spreader” aspect in reporting after any of the local protests were held, whether it be the “Reopen Business,” “Support the Police,” “Black Lives Matter,” or the Trump rallies. There was never any indication that there was any evidence of it…so why would local media report on something that didn’t happen when its main job is to report on what did?
As to no local media reporting on the Bridgeport event specifically as not being a super spreader event, why would they? Local news media has been working under some pretty significant constraints ranging from lack of resources, funding, Covid-19 restrictions to very minimal staffing during this pandemic. There are simply not enough reporters in our area to effectively cover an area as large as Inyo and Mono counties. Can’t be done.
Here’s a question for you: What in this article is “scaring people?” The facts? Or that local media doesn’t use “your facts” or share “your perspective” on a story, event, or issue? You did share them here in your comments. Readers can decide what they think and agree or disagree with them. Thanks for sharing them with us. It is why the Comment Section is provided. It is interesting to see what others think about the news and what is happening around us.
I’ve appreciated your reporting on the virus over the last year+ Charles! Nothing about it has scared me. Mono Person’s opinions aren’t helpful. I’d argue they unnecessarily perpetuate negative sentiment. Your reporting is helpful!