As the number of COVID-19 infections continues to rise in Orange County – flooding hospitals and further burdening the region’s healthcare system – county leaders on Tuesday approved hiring a public relations firm to help reassure residents about the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines.
The shift came when county officials announced on Tuesday that residents 65 and older are now eligible to receive the vaccine, marking a significant expansion in access.
The decision followed a new direction from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and came before the state’s official recommendation.
“My goal is to reduce hospitalizations and deaths as quickly as possible, and we must prioritize our distribution of vaccines to protect the most vulnerable in our community,” said Clayton Chau, county health officer and director of the Health Agency, in an announcement .
The developments are the latest signs of increased availability of vaccines. On thursday, California instructed counties to open the first phase of eligibility for a broader group of healthcare workers, including public health staff, primary care clinics, specialist clinics, lab workers, dental clinics and pharmacy staff.
The county also advised residents not to visit the newly opened vaccine site at Disneyland Resort without an appointment.
The Board of Supervisors voted to hire Costa Mesa marketing consultant, Idea Hall, to develop a plan to reach communities that expressed skepticism about getting the vaccine.
Although county officials have not specified which communities they will focus on, a recent survey by the Orange County Health Agency indicated that women, people aged 35 to 54, Latinos and blacks and residents of Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana showed the least willingness to be vaccinated.
“Is there an urgency in what we need to do? Yes, because unlike testing, it requires education. Education and awareness take time, ”said council chairman Andrew Do. “You are not going to win people over with an announcement, a touch, a date. You need several touches from various sources that they believe in … to educate them about the process and then reduce resistance to vaccines. “
Although the scientific evidence is clear about the safety and efficacy of vaccines after testing involving tens of thousands of participants, including the elderly and people with chronic health conditions, some remain skeptical. Vaccines were recommended for all adults, except those who had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients.
The health agency’s survey, completed last year, determined that “vaccine safety needs to be addressed in all groups, and some groups need to have the problems of protecting others through vaccination and the severity of the disease.”
Overall, 58% of the more than 26,000 respondents indicated that they would be willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The results are similar to a survey by the Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center last year, which showed that only half of the US population planned to receive the vaccine. This is a far cry from the 70% of the population that some experts estimate need to be vaccinated to obtain collective immunity, or the point at which enough people are protected for the coronavirus to stop spreading quickly.
“It is clear that the desire to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is much less than the desire to be vaccinated against seasonal flu in the past or in the present,” says the research.
Last week, more than 56,000 people were vaccinated in Orange County. The county received 176,000 doses by Tuesday from the state, as it prepares to accelerate what has been a slower-than-anticipated deployment process. On Monday, the county announced that the first of five large-scale vaccination centers – dubbed the local super POD (distribution point) – would open this week at Disneyland in Anaheim.
Those eligible for the vaccine are people at the highest priority level in the state, which includes workers in health and long-term care facilities.
“The coronavirus brought a public health crisis and economic devastation,” said Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu. “With this super site, we will start to overcome both. Each vaccination done in Anaheim will help save lives and accelerate the reopening and recovery of our city. “
The county expects to be able to vaccinate 7,500 to 8,000 people a day in large centers. Ultimately, the county’s goal is to complete all vaccines by July 4, Chau said.
Chau urged county leaders on Tuesday to move quickly with an extension plan, warning that the state’s flow of vaccines to the county will decrease if not used efficiently. Vaccine relocations have already occurred in other California counties, he said.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations in the county reached a historic record this month, further damaging the besieged health system. On Monday, 2,221 people were hospitalized with COVID-19. Officials said 544 of those people – most of them over 61 – were being treated in intensive care units.
Chau recalled that restrictions on business and meetings will continue until the municipality can increase the availability of ICU, which remains at 0%. He gasped when he told supervisors about two grandparents who were the primary caregivers for his granddaughter – an eighth grader – until they died of COVID-19.
“We need to do something fast in our community,” he said. “It is not just reopening our economy that is important. It is about taking care of our vulnerable community. Our elderly are dying and we need to do everything we can. ”