Positive COVID Rates Decline but Remain High in California & Infomation for People with Certain Medical Conditions

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Positive COVID Rates Decline but

Remain High in California

More Information on COVID Vaccines

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Information on COVID for People with Medical Conditions

What You Need to Know

A person with any of the medical conditions listed below is more likely to get very sick with COVID-19. If you have one of these conditions, talk with your healthcare provider about how best to protect yourself from severe illness from COVID-19.
The list below does not include all possible conditions that put you at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. If you have questions about a condition not included on this list, talk to your healthcare provider about how best to manage your condition and protect yourself from COVID-19.
If you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and you are aged 50 years or older OR are at high risk of getting very sick, you may be eligible for treatment. Contact your healthcare provider and start treatment within the first 5-7 days after you first develop symptoms. You can also visit a Test to Treat location. Treatment can reduce your risk of hospitalization by more than 50% and also reduces the risk of death.
Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and following preventive measures for COVID-19 are important. This is especially important if you are older or have severe health conditions or more than one health condition, including those on the list below.
Approved and authorized COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.
Some people who are immunocompromised, or people with weakened immune systems, may get additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Overview

Based on the current evidence, a person with any of the conditions listed below is more likely to get very sick from COVID-19. This means that a person with one or more of these conditions who gets very sick from COVID-19 (has severe illness from COVID-19) is more likely to:

Be hospitalized
Need intensive care
Require a ventilator to help them breathe
Die

In addition:

Older adults are at highest risk of getting very sick from COVID-19. More than 81% of COVID-19 deaths occur in people over age 65. The number of deaths among people over age 65 is 97 times higher than the number of deaths among people ages 18-29 years.
A person’s risk of severe illness from COVID-19 increases as the number of underlying medical conditions they have increases.
Some people are at increased risk of getting very sick or dying from COVID-19 because of where they live or work, or because they can’t get health care. This includes many people from racial and ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities.
Studies have shown people from racial and ethnic minority groups are also dying from COVID-19 at younger ages. People in racial and ethnic minority groups are often younger when they develop chronic medical conditions and may be more likely to have more than one medical condition.
People with disabilities are more likely than those without disabilities to have chronic health conditions, live in shared group (also called “congregate”) settings, and face more barriers in accessing health care. Studies have shown that some people with certain disabilities are more likely to get COVID-19 and have worse outcomes.

Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and taking COVID-19 prevention actions are important. This is especially important if you are older or have severe health conditions or more than one health condition, including those on this list. Learn more about how CDC develops COVID-19 vaccination recommendations. If you have a medical condition, learn more about Actions You Can Take.