The Santa Clara County COVID-19 cases are still in a downward trend, meaning the county may change to the state’s orange level next Wednesday.
Santa Clara County Public Health Officer, Dr. Sara Cody, confirmed at the county Health and Hospital Commission meeting on Wednesday that if the county continues to see a reduction in COVID cases and hospitalizations until next time Tuesday, more companies may open in greater capacities. The changes will take effect on March 24th.
At the orange level, indoor restaurants can open with a maximum of 50% capacity or 200 people, whichever is less, while amusement parks can open with 25% capacity or 500 people, whichever is less. Churches can also open up to 50% of capacity indoors, while gyms and gyms can open up to indoors with up to 25% capacity.
Santa Clara County last changed its level on March 2, when it went from the purple level – the most restrictive in the state – to the red level, which was welcome news for many hard-hit businesses.
Case rates and hospitalization numbers are at levels similar to mid-November, Cody said.
“I would say that we are now starting to recover from the fall and winter wave,” said Cody. But she said residents should still be cautious.
“Just because it’s open doesn’t mean it’s a good idea,” said Cody.
Vaccine eligibility opens
The vaccine’s eligibility also opened across the state on Monday to include people aged 16 and over with chronic health conditions. Qualified individuals include cancer patients, those with stage 4 or higher chronic kidney disease, individuals with oxygen-dependent chronic lung disease, individuals with down syndrome, solid organ transplant recipients, pregnant individuals, and sickle cell disease patients , among others.
A list of qualifying conditions can be found on the state’s website here.
But just because eligibility was open, it doesn’t mean that Santa Clara County residents will have an easier time making their first vaccination appointment.
“Vaccine allocations are not meeting our capacity, so very few consultations for the first dose are available,” said Jeff Smith, County Executive. “And we have constant concerns about Blue Shield’s role and timing.”
According to figures presented to the committee on Wednesday, county health providers received a total of 61,640 vaccines between Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. This is far less than the 200,000 weekly vaccines the county says it has the capacity to administer.
But it is also more than the 53,300 doses of vaccine that local providers received last week.
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Image courtesy of Santa Clara County Public Health.
Last week, county supervisors accused Blue Shield, the state’s new vaccine administrator, for allegedly denying extra vaccines when county health care providers fell short.
Blue Shield responded by saying that he had in fact advocated more vaccines for the county.
County executive Smith said the county could end up ignoring the state altogether, turning to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help and extra doses. Currently, two mass vaccination sites in the state are receiving doses from FEMA, the Oakland Coliseum website and the California State University website in Los Angeles.
“We are trying in every way possible to get as much vaccine as possible,” said Smith. “I think we are progressing slowly and continuously.”
Contact Madelyn Reese at [email protected] or follow @MadelynGReese on twitter.