Unvaccinated teens in LA are more likely to test positive for coronavirus than adults

LOS ANGELES — Unvaccinated teenagers have been more likely to test positive for the coronavirus than unvaccinated adults in Los Angeles County, officials said.

The trend illustrates how a group less likely to have been vaccinated in the nation’s most populous county is playing an outsize role in continuing transmission of the highly contagious delta variant.

“The highest case rates have been among unvaccinated teens, who were eight times more likely than vaccinated teens to test positive for COVID and are important drivers of transmission across our communities,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a recent briefing.

Previously, health officials had noted that it was younger adults who were most likely to contract the coronavirus.

But the possibilities for contracting the coronavirus have climbed as social gatherings and extracurricular activities for teenagers have resumed. L.A. County’s unvaccinated youths ages 12 to 17 have a monthly coronavirus case rate 32% worse than that of unvaccinated residents younger than 50, according to data collected between Sept. 16 and Oct. 15.

Not coincidentally, it’s young L.A. County residents who are least