Santa Barbara County will begin vaccinating people over the age of 65 next week Coronavirus crisis

People over the age of 65 can begin scheduling the COVID-19 vaccine in Santa Barbara County next week, the Department of Public Health announced Friday.

In the first two months of vaccine distribution, the county focused on health workers, residents of long-term care institutions and people aged 75 and over.

The Public Health Officer, Dr. Henning Ansorg, estimated that at least two-thirds of the local population over the age of 75 has been vaccinated at this time, and those residents can continue to book appointments even if eligibility extends to more people.

Van Do-Reynoso, director of public health, said people over the age of 65 can start registering for appointments on Tuesday, February 16th.

Workers in education, childcare, food and the agricultural industries cannot register yet.

In addition, state officials announced on Friday that starting March 15, people between the ages of 16 and 64, with disabilities or at increased risk of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19, will be eligible to receive the vaccine.

The basic conditions mentioned in the guidelines include cancer, chronic kidney disease in the fourth stage or more, chronic lung disease, Down syndrome, pregnancy, heart disease, severe obesity and type 2 diabetes, among others.

As the situation expands, the county will first move to people 65 and older, Do-Reynoso said during a briefing Friday.

“I just want to be grounded in reality,” she added.

The county receives about 6,000 doses of vaccine a week, and the age group 65-74 is estimated at 41,000 people, she said.

“So the point is that the supply of vaccines is still very limited,” she said, adding that vaccine providers also make sure that everyone who has already received a first dose receives a second dose in a timely manner.

“We have many more people than we have vaccines and we demand that until the supply of vaccines increases, the community will allow those at the highest risk of exposure and serious health outcomes, to allow them to make their vaccination schedules first. ”

The California Department of Public Health has developed priority vaccine distribution guidelines for people seen at increased risk of exposure to the virus and serious illness if they become infected.

Each county had some discretion, and Santa Barbara County decided to start with an additional 75 residents before expanding to this group of more than 65 plus, Do-Reynoso said.

Ansorg said the county is ready to administer three times the amount of vaccines it has received so far, and these early shortages have led to a lot of frustration.

“This lack has made it necessary to give priority to the most vulnerable populations to receive the vaccine first. These first difficult two months could have been avoided if the (federal) government had actually provided and delivered the promised dose. We have prepared according to their promises, “he said.

Production is now “growing” nationally, and a third vaccine from Johnson & Johnson will soon be available in the United States, he added.

Starting in mid-March, the state will transfer the distribution of the vaccine to a third-party administrator. Blue Shield of California will then allocate vaccines directly to pharmacies, public and private health care networks, hospitals, pop-up sites, and community health care centers.

This transition will streamline vaccine distribution and optimize the vaccine supply chain, Ansorg said.

As of Friday, the county received 61,000 doses of vaccine and administered 99% of those doses, Do-Reynoso shared. “This is a huge celebration for our community,” she said.

Public health on Friday launched a new dashboard of the COVID-19 vaccine, providing information such as doses administered according to age, race, ethnicity and sex. The scoreboard also describes the number of vaccines that have been allocated, ordered and administered, as well as the percentage of the population fully vaccinated in each region of the county.

With the virus moving and spreading, Ansorg said N95 masks are ideal for protecting community members from the virus. Surgical masks are designed to protect the user’s environment, but they are not as sufficient to protect him from the outside environment, Ansorg said.

To ensure that the mask fits well enough to protect the wearer, he said some have found a solution by double masking.

Public health reported 87 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the lowest daily number since December 19.

“When I looked this morning, I was very excited,” Ansorg said. “Our local case rates and positivity testing rates have finally dropped. This is a great relief for all of us. ”

There were 741 cases considered to be still infectious throughout the county, also the lowest number of active cases reported since December 13.

There were 139 COVID-19 patients hospitalized throughout the county and 28 required intensive care. The availability of the county’s ICU was 31.6%, according to Public Health.

A new death of COVID-19 was reported on Friday. The individual was over 70 years old, had underlying medical conditions and lived in Santa Maria.

There have been 367 COVID-19-related deaths to date.

Of the new cases on Friday, 29 were from Santa Barbara and 16 from Lompoc.

Santa Maria and the unincorporated area of ​​the Goleta and Gaviota Valleys reported both seven new cases, the Santa Ynez Valley recorded six, and Isla Vista recorded five.

The Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area, Goleta and the unincorporated areas of North County reported three new cases, and Orcutt reported one.

There were seven cases still pending the geographical location.

There have been 30,586 confirmed cases in the county since the pandemic began.

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