In an effort to bolster the slow deployment of vaccines, Santa Clara County officials on Friday urged all health personnel to take the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and said there were easily shots fired at Santa Clara Medical Centers. county.
However, just over three weeks after the administration of the first dose of vaccine, less than a third of first-stage health workers have been vaccinated, according to the county. The distribution of vaccines that already needed storage and transportation complexes has been made more complex thanks to the large network of stages, phases and levels, Dr. Sara Cody, the county’s public health official, said Friday at a news conference. . Overall, the initial release has been “encouraging,” he said, and the county was “delighted with the association of all health care systems to advocate for vaccines.”
As of Friday, Santa Clara County had administered approximately 47,000 of the first doses assigned to about 110,000, according to county officials, leaving more than 90,000 Phase 1A health workers who have not yet received any vaccine. About 17,000 hospital workers will receive this second dose this week. By context, approximately 26,000 county residents have gained at least temporary immunity from contracting the virus itself since the first doses went into arms on Dec. 17.
“We’re trying to get through phase 1A as fast as we can,” Cody said. “It is a practical effort on the deck. As soon as we are sure that the people eligible for phase 1A have made their appointment, we will be able to move on to phase 1B. “
Just within phase 1A, there are three separate levels. Although this week, California invited all health care providers to get vaccinated in the early stages. Once you reach Phase 1B, all front-line workers and anyone over the age of 75 will be eligible. The phases have a “significant layer of complexity,” Cody said.
Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, county COVID-19 testing officer, said he expects to enter the next phase of vaccinations “some time later this month,” but that it will depend on how many doses the county received.
County officials said they expect to increase vaccinations to 6,000 a day by the end of next week, but Cody said the county has no plans to open a mass vaccination site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. week, like others appearing across the country. To reach the desired immunity threshold in the county herd (immunity among at least 85% of residents), about 1.6 million inoculations will be needed. At the current rate, it would take two years to achieve this goal. At a rate of 6,000 a day, it would take about nine months.
“I’m not a logistics person, but I can even appreciate how complex it is,” Cody said. Each of the Modern and Pfizer vaccines has its own “very particular storage and handling” (each requires cold storage or, in the case of Pfizer, subzero), “this means that the design must be almost close to the freezer. “Cody said.
Fenstersheib compared the launch of the vaccine to the performance of county tests in the early months of the pandemic.
“It simply came to our notice then. It started slow, “he said, noting that the county now does ten times more diagnostic tests than in the spring.” I think (vaccine distribution) will start slowly and hopefully increase … It will take time, but I think we will speed up our effort and vaccinate everyone in less than two and a half years, that’s for sure. “
Any health care personnel, including hospital staff, staff and residents of long-term care facilities, first aid and dialysis centers, home health workers and those in care centers intermediate, community health workers, public health staff, primary care clinic workers Specialized clinic workers, laboratory workers, dental clinics, and pharmacy staff are eligible to schedule the vaccination appointment at through your health care provider or county.