SANTA CRUZ – On an exceptionally hot day in January, Lun Wang, senior manager of Encompass Community Services, looks up from the car window – reaching out to block the sun – with a smile hidden under the face mask. The joy was unmistakable in his voice.
Wang was one of the first to be vaccinated against the new coronavirus at the official launch of Sutter Health’s vaccination clinic, a drive-thru created through renovations in what was once a drive-in cinema on Chanticleer Avenue.
“I feel great,” said Wang, who oversees outpatient programs that primarily serve those who are leaving the criminal justice system and the homeless. “It’s the same thing as a flu shot.”
Wang was one of approximately 10 Encompass Community Services employees who received their first doses on Thursday afternoon. Planning for Sutter Health’s patient vaccination clinic started with an idea on New Year’s Day and evolved into a simulation on Tuesday, according to Sutter Health’s chief administrator, Stephen Gray. Nurses have been training for the past 48 hours – nurses who have shared the spark of hope that comes with the COVID-19 vaccines through a round of applause at the end of the parking interrogation on Thursday.
Wang and his colleagues are just a group of medical staff from the non-Palo Alto Medical Foundation who were vaccinated on the Live Oak hospital campus. Dentists from the Community Dental Care for Dientes and professionals from the Community Health Centers in Santa Cruz also drove to the registration tents, checked in and received forms and instructions before proceeding to the vaccination tents throughout the lot.
But Encompass CEO Monica Martinez was thrilled to have more of her doctors vaccinated. With only a handful of the 400 Encompass employees in the county vaccinated to date, individuals who work in low-risk situations, such as telehealth and high-risk situations, such as living environments, all deserve to be protected to continue serving the customers they care for. about, she said.
“We have been working hard to ensure that our community still has access to the behavioral health services we offer … behavioral health needs, mental health needs and substance use disorders are increasing,” said Martinez, referring to to the emotional burden that COVID- The pandemic has hit those who rely on Encompass services. “Now, more than ever, our workforce needs to be prepared to meet your needs.”
Helping healthcare professionals
On Thursday, dozens of workers drove down one of the two lanes to one of 10 vaccination posts – five of which were open with professionals ready to go due to the smaller size of the group. On Friday, there will be hundreds, said Gray, who will read the signs asking them to connect their car radios to a particular station to hear a cycle of vaccine instructions.
“He’ll say, ‘Welcome to the clinic, you’re getting your Modern vaccine today, here’s what to expect, please make sure you have your sleeve rolled up,'” said Gray as an example.
After the individual is vaccinated, he drives to a smaller parking lot with “Waiting Area” signs. As determined by the CDC, those who do not have a history of reactions to the vaccines sit and wait 15 minutes after the injection and those who have a history of reactions to the vaccine wait 30 minutes after the injection so that staff at the site can monitor any problems. Those experiencing a reaction can blow the horn or flash the lights to get help from nurses stationed at a nearby station. The nurses will also be walking around, said Gray.
After health professionals passed through Thursday, the first of the patients aged 75 and over – the level of Phase 1b that Sutter Health can accommodate at this time, given the number of doses distributed throughout Santa Cruz County – was invited to participate. Gray said doctors were determining which members of the group over 75 were most vulnerable and should lead the way for the population; as of next week, the rest of the 15,000 seniors in the healthcare system who reach the limit will be able to call a phone number or make an appointment through the online patient portal.
“You need to have an active medical record number at Sutter Health / Palo Alto Medical Foundation,” said Sutter Health media relations coordinator Emma Dugas.
Any patient at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation who meets the Phase 1a or 1b criteria must make an appointment to come to the community vaccination clinic. Drop-ins are not allowed.
Gray said it is not known when Sutter Health will move from the first level of Phase 1b to the next, which includes occupationally qualified groups such as teachers, childcare providers and food workers. But until then, said Dugas, the health professionals included in Phase 1a can still come at any time and receive their injection.
“We want to clean (1a), so we want to help in that regard,” said Dugas. “We certainly made our own people, but that’s not enough … 1a will continue even as long as we open 1b. We can do this simultaneously; we have the capacity. “
Doing for others
Wang said that much of his desire to be vaccinated comes from his work with the community, as many patients are marginalized individuals living in South County and have been most affected by COVID-19 cases and death rates.
“Particularly in my leadership role, I think it is important to serve as a model for my team,” she said, the sun hitting hard and reflecting on the asphalt. “We are in a time of science. There are data. There are experts who have tested this vaccine. “
But you don’t have to be a health leader helping a population that feels more isolated now than ever before to want to be a role model for their acquaintances.
“If you are not going to be vaccinated for yourself, get vaccinated for your loved ones and the people around you, because that is what will keep our community safe and help us recover from this pandemic as a whole,” said Wang .
The Santa Cruz community itself did not register new deaths on Thursday, but it did register 172 new cases, according to the county panel. COVID-19 patients occupy 14 ICU beds; zero beds are available, state data showed.
By the numbers
Total cases: 11,447
Active cases: 2,811
Recovery: 8,525
Kills: 111
Current ICU admissions: 14
Hospitalizations: 337
Open ICU beds: 1
Negative tests: 101,037