The Los Angeles County Fire Department is seeing a “drastic drop” in COVID-19 positive cases following vaccinations

LOS ANGELES (KABC) – The Los Angeles County Fire Department says it is seeing a “drastic drop” in the percentage of positivity testing and the number of employees falling ill from COVID-19 within the workforce.

“With an acceptance rate of nearly 75 percent in our department, the COVID-19 vaccine allows us to keep our first responders on track to stay as healthy as possible during these most challenging times of the pandemic,” said Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby. stated.

“Now that the second dose of the vaccine is given to our team members, it will provide another layer of protection and allow us to continue providing the highest level of care to our patients seamlessly.”

WATCH: LAFD gets enough doses of COVID vaccine for the department’s firefighters

The department’s weekly positivity rate was 18% in December. That rate is now 5.6%.

The Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services Bureau coordinated the first vaccination clinics across the country in late December, administering more than 3,000 vaccines.

“As expected, the vaccine started to take effect seven to 10 days after the first vaccines were given,” said medical director Dr. Clayton Kazan of the LA County Fire Department. “As the county continues to grow, new cases among the department’s staff have started to decline suddenly, as has the rate of positivity testing. This is the first time in the entire pandemic that our data has deviated from the county.”

Firefighters are expected to receive their second dose this week.

The video above is from a previous report.