The city of Manhattan Beach has now reached a total of 32 deaths attributed to COVID, which includes two new deaths reported in the last two weeks.

The L.A. County Department of Health, which keeps records on COVID cases and deaths, only reports county-wide demographics on COVID deaths. They do not give specific information about those victims by city.

All told, the city of Manhattan Beach has reported 6,709 total cases of COVID since the beginning of the pandemic (with just 21 new cases in the past week). 

Across L.A. County, there have been 3,464,157 reported COVID cases and 33,740 deaths. There are 500 people currently hospitalized with COVID.

Although the COVID numbers are vastly reduced from the peaks of the pandemic - and operations are largely back to normal - health officials are still urging residents to remain cautious and to seek out one of the new COVID boosters.

The updated fall boosters from Pfizer and Moderna are bivalent vaccines, meaning that they protect against both the original virus that causes COVID-19 and the more recently spreading Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. Although the two subvariants are different, they have the same spike protein, and the new fall booster offers protection against both.

According to the health department, it is important for all residents to get the updated fall booster because immunity from both earlier vaccinations and/or a previous COVID-19 infection wanes over time. The virus has mutated significantly over the past two and a half years, and the new strains can evade some of the protection from earlier vaccinations or previous infections.

“I send my deepest sympathies and wishes of peace and comfort to the many families who have lost a loved one from COVID-19,” said L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer in a statement. “For so many of us who are already fully vaccinated and boosted with one or more doses, it may be confusing to hear that we need another booster. While the original vaccines do continue to provide significant protection against severe illness and death, it is important to know that these early vaccines may provide less protection against the transmission of the virus. For the county’s vulnerable residents who are 65 and older, it is especially important to get the new, updated fall booster."

You can use this page to find and reserve a spot for the updated COVID vaccine.

The city of Manhattan Beach sends out a weekly email with local, county, state, and national COVID statistics. (At a recent City Council meeting, a city staff member said that it was one of the most-opened emails that the city sends out.)

You may sign up to receive those updates from the city of Manhattan Beach here. (Scroll to the bottom of the page.)