By edhat team
The Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health (PHD) addressed concerns about vaccines and COVID-19 updates during Friday’s press conference.
PHD Director Dr. Van Do-Reynoso started the meeting by addressing the latest The Independent about an undocumented 92-year-old woman not being able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a PHD clinic.
Do-Reynoso clarified that the clinic was scheduled for this day and the person did not have an appointment, so there was no vaccine available however, he regrets that this incident occurred. Due to a lack of vaccine supplies, same-day appointments are not available.
She emphasized that the lack of documentation will not be a barrier to receiving the vaccine and she hopes it will dispel fears, especially in undocumented members of the community. According to the identification guidelines, the PHD must verify eligibility and residency in the county. They are asking for or any form or documentation with the same name that matches the name of the appointment. The document does not need to be issued by the government and will not be a barrier, she said.
She continued to explain that this case appears to be a rarity and wants to reassure the community and encourage everyone to continue to seek vaccination when they are eligible.
For the county’s total vaccine supply, 93% of all allocated vaccines were administered. Anyone aged 65 or over or anyone working in health and long-term care is eligible to receive the vaccine.
Phase 1B, which includes educators, daycare workers, food / agriculture workers and emergency medical services, is next in line to receive the vaccine, which will happen “very soon,” said Dr. Do-Reynoso.
The unexpected delay in Modern vaccines this week due to the storm across the country has significantly shortened the supply chain.
Schools and sports come back
Public health officer Dr. Henning Ansorg reported that the county’s COVID-19 case rate for the past three days was below the threshold of 25 per 100,000 residents needed to reopen primary schools. He said that if the trend continues over the weekend, K-6 schools could reopen for face-to-face classes as early as next Wednesday.
There are currently six public schools and a charter school that have completed the appropriate security plan and may open next week, as long as the county meets the case fee requirements on Monday night, Dr. Ansorg said.
He continued to advise schools that have not finalized their security plan to do so now, as there will only be a three-week window where schools can open, regardless of case rates. However, if case rates exceed the limit of 25 and schools have not been approved to reopen, they will have to wait until the numbers drop again.
On Friday, guidelines issued by the state on recreational sports activities for adults and youth outdoors and indoor can resume on February 26.
“The guidance applies to all organized youth sports and recreation – including school and community sponsored programs and privately organized clubs and leagues – and recreational sports for adults (hereinafter youth and adult sports). This guidance does not apply schools or sports professionals. In addition, this guidance does not apply to community events such as marathons, half-marathons and endurance races, “according to the California Department of Public Health website.
Demographic Data COVID-19
Dr. Do-Reynoso presented a series of slides showing data from COVID-19 in specific demographic data for our county from March to December 2020.
The age group with the highest number of reported cases is 20 to 29 years, followed by 30 to 39 years and 40 to 49 years. The smallest number of cases appeared in the 0-9 age group.
Comparing the rates of cases with the size of the population, adults of working age from 18 to 29 years old represented 30% of the cases against 21% of their population, while those from 30 to 49 years old showed 33% of the cases in comparison with their representation population of 24%.
Most deaths from COVID-19 occurred among older adults, being disproportionately larger than their population. The 50-69 year old group had 25% of deaths compared to 22% of its population, while the over 70 year old group had 67% of deaths compared to its 11% population size.
In terms of race / ethnicity, communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by the virus, highlighting ongoing historical social and economic disparities, said Dr. Do-Reynoso.
For occupations, the largest number of cases was in the category of retired / unemployed, probably due to the qualified nursing and the care environments gathered being the most affected by the outbreaks. Offices / managers, workers, health professionals, restaurant / food workers and frontline occupations were also affected.
A full report will be available soon on the PHD website.
Friday numbers
The PHD reported four deaths and 154 new COVID-19 cases on Friday.
Two individuals were over 70 years old and two were 50-69 years old. Four individuals had underlying health conditions and one death was associated with an outbreak at a community care facility. One person resided in Santa Maria, one in Orcutt, one was not incorporated in the northern county and one in the Santa Ynez Valley.
There have been 392 deaths in the county since the pandemic began.
Currently, the municipality has 524 active cases. Of these, 92 are hospitalized and 21 are in the ICU. Santa Bárbara County has 19.7% availability of ICUs.
Dr. Ansorg confirmed that the case rate has reduced significantly, however, it is still greater than the increase we experienced last summer.
More data can be seen at publichealthsbc.org.