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One of the biggest challenges in vaccine distribution is not delivering the actual doses, but sharing information about vaccines with the public.
“Communication about immunizations has been very difficult due to the structure of the system description,” said District 2 Supervisor Gregg Hart. “If we start with the jargon, with levels and 1A and 1B and C, people will never catch up. They will never be comfortable with the system. “
Beyond the jargon Hart referred to, the deployment of vaccines presents more challenges in Santa Barbara. Many people aged 75 and over, who are among the next group of people to get vaccinated, are eager to make their appointments. Due to state vaccine guidelines, those who wish to make an appointment in advance do not yet have the option to do so.
Public health director Van Do-Reynoso said part of the delay was strict adherence to state guidelines that only allowed public health to administer the vaccine to one group at a time within group 1A, health workers in contact with patients who are in the first group to be vaccinated. Last week, the state allowed the county to vaccinate all groups of 1A simultaneously, which began to speed up the process.
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Turns out, Santa Barbara County is doing pretty well. The state has distributed about 27% of its vaccine doses and the national average is around 30%. Santa Barbara County, on the other hand, distributed 54 percent of its vaccines.
So when can the next group start lining up for their vaccines? At the beginning of February. While appointments cannot be made at this time, those over the age of 75 can be sure their turn is on the way. Do-Reynoso explained that while notifying people of their vaccine eligibility through their employer was successful with the first group, many of the following group are retired.
Thus, they will be informed in turn via their general practitioner and will also be able to be vaccinated in retail pharmacies. Public health vaccination sites will also be set up throughout the county. She also said that public health was developing mobile clinics to offer vaccines in specific locations to specific populations, such as housing for the elderly or farm workers.
People with questions about their eligibility can send an email [email protected] or dial 211. The county employs eight staff to answer calls, and public health has two full-time staff who work to answer emails about vaccines.
But not all of them had concerns about their vaccine eligibility. Some were afraid of the opposite.
“I have different concerns than my colleagues,” said 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson. “Some of my constituents are concerned that vaccination will be mandatory at some point. Are we talking about it?
It was Nelson’s first meeting after taking over as the seat of his former boss, former supervisor Peter Adam. It represents a more conservative district of the county. Do-Reynoso told him it’s not mandatory because he’s under emergency use authorization. Once it receives full FDA approval in about two years, she anticipates that it will be a different conversation and that it will be left to employers.
5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino wondered when the vaccines would be enough to “get back to normal, whatever that means.”
“People will continue to hang on and do their part when they see a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “How many people would we need to vaccinate in the county before we can relax these stay-at-home orders?”
The answer was not easy. Do-Reynoso explained that it is the capacity of the intensive care unit that must increase before the regional stay-at-home order is lifted. Vaccines, while an important tool in the fight against the pandemic, won’t get Santa Barbarans out of the stay-at-home order on their own.
COVID-19 CONTINUES TO RISE
Despite the fact that the vaccine deployment is going well in Santa Barbara, the county is still exploding with cases of COVID-19. In the last four weeks since the holidays, there has been an “astronomical” increase in the county’s adjusted case rate, which now stands at 64, Do-Reynoso said. Positivity tests have increased 114% in the past four weeks, and the capacity of the county’s intensive care unit hovers around 11%.
Contact tracers have determined that the majority of those who contracted the virus in week 52 of the pandemic work in offices, are under the age of 18, or are retired / unemployed. This only captures 41% of surge data, as contact tracers are still polling people who are COVID-19 positive.
District 1 supervisor Das Williams was worried about which people were coming to the county and possibly bringing the virus with them. It is mandatory for out-of-state visitors to quarantine for 10 days, although Santa Barbara does not have a visitor message saying this.
“Could we do a better job of informing people? [to quarantine]? Williams asked. “It’s a big deal in LA County, and they’ve apparently let people know at airports.”
Public health worker Dr Henning Ansorg agreed with Williams and said a more targeted message would be good, although he did not provide an example or explain how that message could be disseminated. to visitors.
TEST
Although mass testing was a difficult feat at the start of the pandemic, testing for the virus escalated and the county has achieved unprecedented testing capacity. There are 1,173 testing opportunities in the county per day.
Public Health on Monday opened its first mobile testing site at CenCal Health in Santa Barbara which can administer 538 tests per day on its own. It will be open Monday through Friday for at least two weeks before moving to a new location in the county. To make an appointment, click here.
Every day, the staff of the Independent from Santa Barbara works hard to separate the truth from the rumor and keep you informed of what is happening throughout the community of Santa Barbara. Now there is a way to directly activate these efforts. Support it Independent by making a direct contribution or with a subscription to Indy +.
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