One of the biggest challenges of vaccine distribution is not to administer the actual doses, but to share information about the vaccines to the public.
“The communication about the vaccinations was very challenging because of the structure of the description of the system,” said Gregg Hart, 2nd District Superintendent. ‘If we start with jargon, with levels and 1A and 1B and C, people will never catch up. They will never be comfortable with the system. ”
Aside from the jargon Hart refers to, vaccine rollout has more challenges in Santa Barbara. Many seniors aged 75 and over, who are in the next group of people receiving vaccinations, are eager to make their appointments. Due to the state’s vaccination type, those who want to make appointments ahead of time may not yet have the option.
Van Do-Reynoso, director of public health, said that adhering to the guidelines was the strict adherence to guidelines that only allowed the vaccine to be administered to one group within group 1A, the health workers the patient experiences. group of those to be vaccinated. Last week, the state allowed the country to vaccinate all groups within 1A simultaneously, and this began to speed up the process.
Get the best stories in your inbox by signing up for our daily newsletter, Indy Today.
It seems that Santa Barbara County is doing well. The state gave about 27 percent of its vaccine doses, and nationwide, the average is about 30 percent. Santa Barbara County, on the other hand, distributed 54 percent of its vaccines.
When can the next group then start queuing to take their vaccines? Early February. Although no appointments can be made at the moment, those over 75 can be sure that it is their turn. Do-Reynoso explained that although many in the next group of people with pensioners were informed that their vaccination was successful through their employer.
They will therefore be notified of their turn via their primary care physician and can also get their vaccine at retail pharmacies. Public health vaccination sites will also be set up across the country. She also said that public health is developing mobile clinics to offer vaccines in specific locations to specific populations, such as senior housing or farm workers.
Those with questions about their suitability can email [email protected] or call 211. The province staffed eight employees to answer calls, and public health had two full-time employees working to answer emails about vaccines.
But not everyone was worried about their vaccination. Some feared the opposite.
“I’m worried about someone other than my colleagues,” said Bob Nelson, 4th district supervisor. ‘Some of my constituents are concerned that vaccination is mandatory at some point. Is there talk of it? ”
It was Nelson’s first meeting after taking over the seat from his former boss, former supervisor Peter Adam. He represents a more conservative district in the country. Do-Reynoso told him it was not mandatory because it was under emergency use permission. Once the FDA is approved, in two years’ time, she expects it to be a different conversation and to be left to employers.
5th District Superintendent Steve Lavagnino asked him when vaccines would be enough to ‘become normal, whatever that means’.
“People will keep holding on and doing their part if they can see a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “How many people will we have to vaccinate in the country before we can relax the home orders?”
The answer was not simple. Do-Reynoso explained that it is the capacity of the intensive care unit that needs to grow before the local stay-at-home order is lifted. Vaccinations, while an important tool in combating the pandemic, will not pull Santa Barbarans out of the homeland order on their own.
COVID-19 GOES TO SOAR
Despite the fact that vaccine rollouts in Santa Barbara are going well, the country is still exploding with COVID-19 cases. Over the past four weeks since the holiday, there has been an ‘astronomical’ increase in the country’s adjusted rate, which now stands at 64, Do-Reynoso said. The positive testing has increased by 114 percent over the past four weeks, and the capacity of the intensive care unit in the country is about 11 percent.
Contact detectives determined that the majority of those who contracted the virus during week 52 of the pandemic were working in office settings, were younger than 18, or retired / unemployed. It achieves only 41 percent of the training data, because contact detectives still interview the COVID-19-positive individuals.
Das Williams, first district superintendent, was concerned about the individuals traveling to the country and possibly bringing the virus with them. It is mandatory for visitors outside the state to be quarantined for ten days, although Santa Barbara does not have a message to visitors saying so.
“Can we work better to let people know? [to quarantine]? Ask Williams. “This is a big deal in LA County, and they seem to let people know at airports.”
Public Health Officer, Dr. Henning Ansorg, agrees with Williams and says that more targeted messages will be good, although he does not give an example or say how the messages can be made known to visitors.
TESTING
Although mass testing in the beginning of the pandemic was a difficult performance, testing for the virus has picked up, and the province has a high testing capability. There are 1,173 testing opportunities in the country per day.
Public Health on Monday launched its first mobile testing website at CenCal Health in Santa Barbara, which can administer 538 tests a day alone. It will be open for at least two weeks from Monday to Friday before moving to a new location in the province. Click here to schedule an appointment.
The staff of the Santa Barbara Independent work hard to find out the truth of rumors and keep abreast of what is happening throughout the Santa Barbara community. Now there is a way to make these efforts possible directly. Support the Independent by making a direct contribution or by subscribing to Indy +.