Up to half a million more people in San Diego County will be eligible Saturday for the COVID-19 vaccine, but supplies remain limited and weeks are expected before all of them included in the next level can be vaccinated eligibility.
Those working in emergency services, education and child care, as well as in food and agriculture, can start receiving vaccines from 27 February. Each of these sectors includes a wide variety of occupations and there are vaccination plans for certain subsets of these groups.
Those who are not covered by specific vaccination plans for their occupation should contact their primary care physician or make an appointment at vaccinationsuperstationsd.com.
Newly eligible essential workers
Emergency services include law enforcement officers, vaccination appointments will be coordinated by Scripps Health. Others in this sector include those working in 911 call centers, building security, disaster surveillance and response to hazardous materials.
The education and care of children includes all teachers and staff of these facilities. Those who work in the nursery school from 12 to 12 yearsth degree will have appointments coordinated by the County Board of Education through California’s VEBA schools. They have to use vebavaccinates.com and should not be presented at vaccination sites prior to a confirmed appointment via VEBA
Educational staff working in daycare centers or higher education not covered by California Schools VEBA should go through their primary care physician or visit vaccinationsuperstationsd.com.
Food and agriculture include workers from any supermarket or convenience store; those that support the running of restaurants and fast food operations, including food preparation; food manufacturing; a variety of support functions for the food and animal feed industry.
The agri-food sector also includes agricultural workers. They will be the focus of a Collaboration Operation campaign, a coalition of firefighters and medical personnel that will provide COVID-19 vaccines throughout the region. Operation Collaboration will visit fields and agricultural areas to deliver vaccines to workers in remote areas of the county.
New eligible groups are added to health care workers and anyone 65 years of age or older. People 16 years of age or older with underlying conditions, regardless of occupation, can begin enrolling in vaccines on March 15th.
Status metrics:
- The adjusted case rate calculated by the state of San Diego County is currently 15 cases per 100,000 residents (as of February 23) and the region is at the Purple or Tier 1 levels.
- The test positivity percentage is 5%, placing the county at level 2 or at the red level. Although the positivity rate of county tests qualifies it for the red level, the state uses the most restrictive metric (in this case, the adjusted case rate) and assigns the counties to that level. Therefore, the County remains at the Purple or Tier 1 level.
- The county health equity metric, which analyzes test positivity for areas with the lowest health conditions, is 7.4% and is at the red or level 2 level. This metric does not move counties to more restrictive levels, but progress to a less restrictive level.
- The California Department of Public Health evaluates counties on a weekly basis. The next report is scheduled for Tuesday, March. 2.
Community configuration outbreaks:
- On February 24, seven new community outbreaks were confirmed: four in business settings, one in a daycare / preschool / daycare setting, one in a faith-based agency center, and one in a retail setting.
- In the last seven days (February 18-24), 30 outbreaks of the community were confirmed.
- The number of community outbreaks remains above the trigger for seven or more days.
- An outbreak of community environment is defined as three or more cases of COVID-19 in one environment and in people from different households during the last 14 days.
Tests:
- On February 24, 18,830 tests were reported in the county and the percentage of new positive cases was 3%.
- The average percentage of 14-day positive cases is 4.4%. The target is less than 8.0%.
- The average daily test for 7 days is 14,464.
Cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions:
- On February 24, 519 cases were reported in the county. The total for the region is now 258,982.
- 13,095 or 5.1% of all cases required hospitalization.
- 1,580 or 0.6% of all cases and 12.1% of hospitalized cases had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.
Deaths:
- On February 24, 30 new deaths were recorded for COVID-19. The total for the region is 3,260.
- Between January 14 and February 24, twelve women and 18 men died.
- Of the 30 deaths reported on February 24, ten people who died were 80 or older, nine were 70, eight were 60, one was 50 and two were 40.
- Twenty-seven had underlying medical conditions, two did not and one has a pending medical history.
More information:
The most detailed data summaries can be found at The county coronavirus-sd.com website they are updated around 5pm daily.