By edhat staff
The Department of Public Health in Santa Barbara (PHD) delivered vaccines and COVID-19 updates during Friday’s press conference.
PHD Director, Dr. From Do-Reynoso, the meeting began with the latest report from The Independent regarding an undocumented 92-year-old woman who could not receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a PHD clinic.
Do-Reynoso made it clear that the clinic was booked today and that the person did not have an appointment, but there was still no vaccine available. She is sorry that the incident took place. Due to a lack of vaccine supply, same day appointments are not available.
She stressed that lack of documentation will not be an obstacle to receiving the vaccine, and she hopes it will dispel fears, especially among members who have not documented. According to identification guidelines, PHD must verify suitability and provincial residence. They ask if any form or documentation with the same name matches the appointment name. The document does not need to be issued by the government, and it will not be an obstacle, she said.
She went on to explain that this case is a rare occurrence and wants to reassure the community and encourage everyone to continue vaccination when they are eligible.
For the province’s total vaccine supply, 93% of all allocated vaccines were administered. Anyone 65 years and older, or anyone working in health care and long-term care, can receive the vaccine.
Phase 1B, which includes educators, childcare workers, food and agricultural workers and emergency medical services, is next in line to receive the vaccine, which will happen ‘very soon’, said dr. Do-Reynoso said.
The unexpected delay in Moderna vaccines this week due to the storm across the country has significantly slowed the supply chain.
Schools and sports to return
Public Health Officer, Dr. Henning Ansorg, reported that the COVID-19 case in the country over the past three days was below the 25 per 100,000 population threshold needed to reopen primary schools. He said if the trend continues through the weekend, K-6 schools could reopen for personal instruction as early as next Wednesday.
There are currently six public schools and one charter school that have completed the relevant safety plan and can open next week, provided the province meets the requirements for the rate on Monday night, Dr. Care said.
He went on to recommend that schools that have not finalized their safety plan do so now, as there will only be a three-week window where schools can open regardless of the matter. Therefore, if the rate exceeds the 25 threshold and schools are not approved to reopen, they will have to wait until the numbers decrease again.
On Friday, the state manual on youth and outdoor sports activities for adults can resume on 26 February.
“The guidance applies to all organized youth sports and recreation – including school and community-sponsored programs, and privately organized clubs and leagues – and recreational sports for adults (hereinafter youth and adult sports). This guidance does not apply to colleagues or professionals. “This guidance also does not apply to community events such as marathons, half marathons and endurance races,” according to the California Department of Public Health website.
COVID-19 Demographic Data
Dr. From March to December 2020, Do-Reynoso presented a series of slides showing COVID-19 data within specific demographics of our country.
The age group with the most cases reported is 20-29 years old, followed by 30-39 and then 40-49. The lowest number of cases appeared in the age group 0-9.
Compared to the number of cases with the population size, the age of 18-29 years in the working age was 30% of the cases versus 21% of their population, while 30-49 years old showed 33% of the cases compared to the 24% of the population.
The majority of COVID-19 deaths occurred among older adults, who were disproportionately higher than their population. The age group 50-69 years had 25% of the deaths compared to 22% of their population, while the age group older than 70 years had 67% of the deaths compared to the population size of 11%.
In terms of race / ethnicity, colored communities have been excessively affected by the virus, which highlights the ongoing historical social and economic inequalities, said Dr. Do-Reynoso said.
For occupations, most cases were in the category of retired / unemployed, probably due to skilled nursing and care institutions worst affected by outbreaks. Ministers / management, laborers, health workers, restaurant / food workers and occupations in the front line were also affected.
A full report will be available on the PHD website soon.
Friday’s numbers
PHD reported four deaths and 154 new COVID-19 cases on Friday.
Two individuals were older than 70 years and two were 50-69 years old. Four individuals had underlying health conditions and one death was accompanied by an outbreak at a community care center. One person was in Santa Maria, one in Orcutt, one in the north of the province and one in the Santa Ynez Valley.
There have been 392 deaths in the country since the start of the pandemic.
The province is currently experiencing 524 active cases. Of these, 92 were admitted to the hospital and 21 to the ICU. Santa Barbara County has 19.7% ICU availability.
Dr. Care has confirmed that the rate has dropped significantly, but it is still higher than the surge we experienced this past summer.
More information can be viewed at publichealthsbc.org.