The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution program is well underway in Santa Clara County, which could move to the second phase after the end of January, health leaders said during a Friday press conference.
They also outlined how people can get the vaccines and announced a new website, sccfreevax.org, with more information.
Healthcare workers and residents of long-term care institutions who qualify for the first phase of implementation (Phase 1A) receive the first ends. The doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna confer 95% immunity against the deadly coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Santa Clara County has a current grant of 110,000 doses of vaccine, with more expected, Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, the COVID-19 testing officer, said. The province has 140,000 healthcare staff eligible for the first round and about 47,000 have already been vaccinated. Fenstersheib said about 6,000 staff members in the nursing homes had received the vaccine since it arrived around Christmas.
However, the number of people actually vaccinated in the country is higher, as the total is not responsible for additional vaccines administered by the federal veterans administration health care system and long-term care facilities.
According to provincial supervisor Otto Lee, there could be up to 6,000 vaccinations per day.
Provincial health officer, dr. Sara Cody, said health leaders will open the vaccines to people in the subsequent phases as soon as it is determined that all suitable persons in a phase will receive the shots.
When phase 1B begins, the province will make the doses available to more people in two levels: level 1 will focus on people aged 75 and older, and workers in education, childcare, emergency services, food and agriculture. Phase 1B Level 2 will include older adults 65 years and older; workers in transport and logistics; members of industrial, residential and commercial shelters and services; critical manufacturers; captured individuals and the homeless, according to state health officials.
Healthcare workers can currently receive the vaccines through their healthcare provider, including Stanford Health Care, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Kaiser Permanente and provincial facilities, Fenstersheib said. The province is also launching mass vaccination centers and currently has three, with the aim of opening a fourth next week, Dr. Jennifer Tong, co-principal of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, said.
Cody said the province is striving for 85% herd immunity, described by dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to protect the population. While some people are already protected because they have had the infection, Cody said they still recommend that everyone be vaccinated. Even after receiving the doses, people will have to wear their masks, distance themselves socially and take other measures necessary to protect their families and others from infection. Even if they have immunity, they can still carry the disease, she said.
According to her estimate, about 1.5 million people in Santa Clara County need to be vaccinated to reach the 85% level.
“We are still in an extremely difficult place” in terms of the number of infections spread across the country, she said. Currently, the province averages 1,200 new COVID-19 cases per day. Nationwide, more than 800 people have died since the virus originated, and the number of beds available for intensive care units is now just 20 to 25 since the last few days, she said.
“Vaccination is absolutely essential to work out this pandemic. We are going to be in a transition period for the next few months,” she said.
The health leaders said the roll-out of vaccines has been somewhat delayed by the strategic complexity of different federal protocols for the two existing vaccines; the strict requirements, such as deep freezing; the logistics of setting up vaccination clinics near freezers; and fears among the public for the safety of the vaccines.
As more people are vaccinated and people see that there are relatively few adverse reactions, health leaders hope they will increase the vaccination rate, they said. The country also keeps track of adverse reactions through the side-response vaccination system.
The sharp rise in infections and the holidays have also contributed to the problems, they said. Cody added that the most important unknown is what bump they will see in the weeks after the Christmas and New Year holidays.
When provincial leaders were asked how confident they are in getting additional vaccine supplies, Fenstersheib said there was no reason to expect the country not to receive the necessary doses.
“We have no control over the federal government,” he said, but added that when presidential election Joe Biden takes office after January 20, they are already committed to increasing vaccine resources.
Watch the full press conference here:
Find extensive coverage on the Midpeninsula’s response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and the Almanac here.