San Rafael, CA – Marin County Public Health has reported the first COVID-19 death of a county resident since mid-May. The resident had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and died Wednesday, July 21, after being admitted to a hospital with respiratory symptoms.
The fatality was the 186th in Marin during the pandemic. All Marin County residents who have died from COVID-19 have been unvaccinated. No other identifying information will be released by Marin County Public Health.
“It’s especially hard to see people dying from COVID-19 when we know how preventable it is,” said Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County Public Health Officer. “We’re sharing this information so our community sees it’s not safe to be unvaccinated.”
More than 85% of Marin’s 12-and-over population has completed the vaccine series. But despite vaccination rates that are the highest in California, Marin is still seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant. As of July 22, there were 258 active cases confirmed in the most recent two-week period, more than five times the number reported in mid-June.
Residents over age 65 became eligible for vaccinations in Marin on February 15, and an estimated 98% of local residents in that age group are fully vaccinated and protected. Deaths among the 65-and-older age group took a sharp decline this spring after intensive countywide efforts to vaccinate our most vulnerable residents.
“This latest death has two lessons for us,” Willis said. “The first is how good the Delta variant is at finding unvaccinated people, and the second is that unvaccinated people lack protection against severe illness and death.” He added that vaccinated individuals who are infected with COVID-19 are at significantly lower risk of severe illness and death.
Health officials urge people of all ages to get vaccinated, not just for their own health but for the health of those around them. The Marin County Public Health website GetVaccinatedMarin.org includes a list of pop-up vaccination clinics at locations throughout the county. The Marin County Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 website is updated regularly with the latest localized and statewide information about the virus.