Up to half a million additional people in San Diego County will become eligible on Saturday for the COVID-19 vaccine, but supplies remain limited and it is expected to take weeks before everyone included in the next level of eligibility can be vaccinated.
Those working in emergency services, education and daycare, as well as food and agriculture can start receiving vaccines from February 27. Each of these sectors includes a wide variety of occupations, and vaccination plans are in place for certain subsets of these groups.
Those not covered by specific vaccination plans for their occupation should contact their primary care physician or make an appointment at vaccinationsuperstationsd.com.
Newly qualified essential workers
Emergency services include police, whose vaccination appointments will be coordinated by Scripps Health. Others in this sector include those working in 911 call centers, building security, disaster monitoring and hazardous material response.
Childcare and education includes all teachers and staff at these facilities. Those who work in transitional kindergarten up to 12 years oldº degree will have commitments coordinated by the County Office of Education through California Schools VEBA. They should use vebavaccinates.com and should not show up at vaccination sites before an appointment confirmed by VEBA
Education staff working in day care centers or higher education not covered by California Schools VEBA should visit their primary care physician or visit vaccinationsuperstationsd.com.
Food and agriculture include workers in any supermarket or convenience store; those who support the conduct of restaurants and fast food service operations, including food preparation; food manufacturing; a variety of support functions for the food and animal feed industries.
The food and agriculture sector also includes agricultural workers. They will be the focus of a campaign by Operation Collaboration, a coalition of firefighters and medical personnel that provides COVID-19 vaccines across the region. Operation Collaboration will visit fields and agricultural areas to deliver vaccines to workers in remote areas of the municipality.
The new eligible groups are, in addition to health professionals and anyone aged 65 and over. People aged 16 and over with underlying illnesses, regardless of occupation, can start applying for vaccination on March 15.
State metrics:
- The rate of cases adjusted and calculated by the state of San Diego County is currently 15 cases per 100,000 residents (as of February 23) and the region is at Purple Level or Level 1.
- The percentage of test positivity is 5%, placing the county at Level 2 or Red Level. Although the test positivity rate for the county qualifies you for the red level, the state uses the most restrictive metric – in this case, the adjusted case rate – and assigns counties to that level. Therefore, the Shire remains at Purple Level or Level 1.
- The county health equity metric, which analyzes test positivity for areas with the lowest healthy conditions, is 7.4% and is at the red or level 2. This metric does not move counties to more restrictive levels, but it is necessary to advance to a less restrictive layer.
- The California Department of Public Health evaluates counties weekly. The next report is scheduled for Tuesday, March. two
Community configuration outbreaks:
- Seven new community outbreaks were confirmed on February 24: four in commercial settings, one in daycare centers / preschools / daycare centers, one in a religious institution and one in a retail environment.
- In the past seven days (18-24 February), 30 community outbreaks have been confirmed.
- The number of outbreaks in the community remains above the trigger of seven or more in seven days.
- An outbreak in a community setting is defined as three or more cases of COVID-19 in an environment and in people from different families in the past 14 days.
Test:
- 18,830 tests were reported to the county on February 24, and the percentage of new positive cases was 3%.
- The 14-day moving average percentage of positive cases is 4.4%. The target is less than 8.0%.
- The daily average of 7 days of testing is 14,464.
ICU cases, hospitalizations and admissions:
- 519 cases were reported to the county on February 24. The total for the region now stands at 258,982.
- 13,095 or 5.1% of all cases required hospitalization.
- 1,580 or 0.6% of all cases and 12.1% of hospitalized cases had to be admitted to the intensive care unit.
Deaths:
- 30 new deaths from COVID-19 were reported on February 24. The total for the region is 3,260.
- Twelve women and 18 men died between January 14 and February 24.
- Of the 30 deaths recorded on February 24, 10 people who died were aged 80 or over, nine were in their 70s, eight in their 60s, one in their 50s and two in their 40s.
- Twenty-seven had underlying medical conditions, two did not and one has an outstanding medical history.
More information:
The most detailed data summaries found in the County coronavirus-sd.com website are updated around 5pm daily.