SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, California – Santa Barbara County Public Health has announced that it will open the eligibility of the COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 and older starting Tuesday, February 16.
Until then, vaccines could only be distributed to essential workers and people aged 75 and over.
“The challenges of launching the vaccine have caused anxiety and frustration for many residents,” said public health officer Henning Ansorg.
The announcement was made during the weekly county coronavirus news brief at Zoom.
With an average of 6,000 doses arriving each week, Santa Barbara County is not yet able to start vaccinating populations from separate sectors.
That includes:
“Although we have been moving for over 65 years,” said public health director Van Do-Reynoso. “We are still very limited in the number of vaccines we receive as a county.”
“These first two difficult months could have been warned if the government had actually guaranteed and dispatched the promised number of doses,” added Ansorg.
Dr. Anthony Fauci also announced on Friday that he expects the general public to have access to the COVID-19 vaccines sometime in April, with most Americans inoculated in the middle or late summer.
“I imagine that when we get to April, that’s what I would ask, you know, for a better writing, hunting season,” said Fauci. “That is, virtually anyone and anyone in any category can start getting vaccinated.”
Pfizer and Moderna, the two companies currently with COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the U.S., have also started testing for children, starting with older age groups.
In addition to the update, another COVID-related death was reported along with 87 new cases. This brings the death toll across the county to 367.
Public health said the individual who died was over 70 and had underlying health problems.
They would have lived in the city of Santa Maria.
The county said a death is considered coronavirus-related death when the health department receives a death certificate that lists COVID-19 as the cause of death or a significant contributing factor to death. Sometimes the process can take several weeks to verify.
Currently, there are also 139 people hospitalized, 28 of whom are in the ICU.
With the federal government increasing production, those with health problems between the ages of 16 and 64 will also be eligible to receive vaccines in mid-March.
“In five weeks, we will be in that space where everyone who wants a vaccine can get it,” concluded Do-Reynoso.
For a complete analysis of the COVID-19 cases in Santa Barbara County, click here.