In an effort to support a slow rollout of vaccines, Santa Clara County officials on Friday urged all healthcare personnel to get their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and said the injections were readily available at medical centers in the United States. whole district.
However, according to the province, just over three weeks since the first dose of the vaccine, less than a third of health workers have been vaccinated in the first phase. The distribution of vaccines that already required complicated storage and transportation has been made more complicated by the vast web of stages, stages and levels, Dr. Sara Cody, the province’s public health officer, said Friday at a news conference. Overall, the initial rollout was “encouraging,” she said, and the province was “delighted to see all health care systems partnering to combat vaccinations.”
By Friday, Santa Clara County had administered about 47,000 of the roughly 110,000 assigned first doses, according to county officials, leaving more than 90,000 stage 1A health workers who have not yet received a vaccine. About 17,000 hospital workers will receive their second dose this week. In comparison, about 26,000 residents of the county have gained at least temporary immunity from contracting the virus themselves since the first doses were put into arms on Dec. 17.
“We’re trying to get through Phase 1A as quickly as possible,” said Cody. “It is an effort of all hands on deck. Once we are sure that the people who qualify for phase 1A have made their appointments, we can move to phase 1B. “
Just within phase 1A there are three separate levels. Although this week California has invited all health care providers to get vaccinated in the initial stages. Once it reaches Phase 1B, all frontline workers and anyone over 75 years of age are eligible. The phases have a “significant layer of complexity,” Cody said.
Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, the county’s COVID-19 testing officer, said he hopes to enter the next phase of vaccinations “sometime by the end of the month,” but it depends on the amount of doses the county has received.
County officials said they hope to ramp up vaccinations to 6,000 a day by the end of next week, but Cody said the county has no plans to open a 24/7 mass vaccination site like others across the country. land popping up. Reaching the desired immunity threshold for the herd – immunity among at least 85% of the population – requires approximately 1.6 million inoculations. At the current rate, it would take more than two years to reach that goal. At a rate of 6,000 a day, it would take about nine months.
“I’m not a logistics person, but even I can understand how complex this is,” said Cody. Each of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines has its own “very specific storage and handling” – each requires cold storage or, in Pfizer’s case, below zero – “that means the design has to be pretty much close to the freezer. are, ”said Cody.
Fenstersheib compared the roll-out of the vaccine to getting the province’s testing activities up and running in the first months of the pandemic.
“It took a lot of effort. It started slow, ”he said, noting that the county is now running ten times as many diagnostic tests as it did in the spring. “I think (vaccine distribution) was expecting to start slowly and we expect it to increase … It will take time, but I think we will speed up our efforts and let everyone in less than two and a half years. vaccinate.
All health care personnel, including hospital personnel, staff and residents of long-term care facilities, medical first responders and dialysis centers, home care workers and people in intermediate care facilities, community health workers, public health field personnel, primary care clinic workers come workers in specialized clinics, laboratory workers, dental clinics and pharmacy personnel are all eligible to schedule their vaccination appointment through their health care provider or the county.