County Plans for COVID-19 Vaccination Distribution

By edhat staff
Santa Barbara County is making plans to distribute the COVID-19 vaccination within the next few weeks once it's available.
During Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso detailed the upcoming process and procedure on who will be vaccinated first and how.
Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna are expected to receive emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the next few weeks. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the California Public Health Department (CDPH), vaccine prioritization will take place due to the initial limited supply in two phases.
Phase 1a will include vaccinations of health care workers and first responders at hospitals, clinics, and pre-determined public health locations referred to as PODs. Pending allocation, this is expected to begin in mid to late December. Phase 1b will include older adults living in congregate or crowded settings and individuals with the highest risk for severe illness. This is expected to begin between mid-December to January 2021 at long-term care facilities and PODs.
Santa Barbara County's Public Health Department (PHD) estimates the county has over 20,000 health care workers in hospitals, skilled nursing and congregate living facilities, home health, hospice, and outpatient clinics. Additionally, there are nearly 2,000 first responders with the fire and police departments as well as ambulance services.
Phase 2 will include non-healthcare essential workers, people in congregate settings, and all other older adults. The time frame is currently aimed at mid-March or mid-April 2021 and will be available at community PODs.
PHD formed a COVID-19 Vaccination Workgroup with local healthcare providers to receive and administer the vaccine when available. The department now plans to set up a call center, develop staffing and logistics for distribution sites, and confirm support from cities.
Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg addressed any hesitancy about receiving the new vaccine and stated the Pfizer option is being reviewed by the FDA so there isn't a lot of public information available yet. But once there is he said he'll make sure the community is well informed on the facts and new developments.
COVID-19 Data in Santa Barbara County
Do-Reynoso stated the county is seeing a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, testing positivity rates, and hospitalizations in the past two weeks.
From November 16-30, there was a 10% increase in cumulative case count, 61% increase in active cases, 154% increase in hospitalizations, and 2% increase in deaths.
The areas seeing the biggest case increase are Santa Barbara with a 61% jump and Lompoc with 47%.
The occupations with the most positive cases continue to be clerical/management, followed by those under 18 years of age, and retired/unemployed.
Do-Reynoso stated an increase in hospitalizations can occur quite rapidly as data shows hospitalizations increase two to three weeks after an increase in cases.
More data can be found at https://publichealthsbc.org
47 Comments
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Dec 01, 2020 06:24 PM"Phase 2 will include non-healthcare essential workers, people in congregate settings, and all other older adults. The time frame is currently aimed at mid-March or mid-April 2021 and will be available at community PODs. "
As a 55-year-old, I have to wait until May or later before I get a shot? (I'm assuming I'm Phase 3 at best.) Are you kidding me? It's pathetic and ridiculous that we can't ramp up the production of the vaccines.
Biden needs to implement the Defense Production Act to get the vaccine moving faster.
I suspect private profit (competition between private pharma companies and arguments over the division of spoils) is slowing the distribution of the vaccine.
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Dec 01, 2020 11:09 PMjust keep wearing your mask and practice social distancing. The logistics are huge..how to vaccinate the whole population. At least there is a vaccine on the horizon.
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Dec 02, 2020 08:21 AMThis is a huge undertaking. And Biden can’t do diddly until after Jan. 20.
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Dec 02, 2020 08:34 AMBiden can't do "diddly" until the people pulling his strings tell him what to do.
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Dec 02, 2020 09:07 AMLoose, dunno if you know this but Biden isn't the president yet so he can't really do anything? But I agree with you, he should invoke it, when he becomes president. For PPE, that is, not meat or poultry like Trump did.
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Dec 02, 2020 09:31 AMRelax. Do you really think the manufacturers are not going maximize their production? I used to work for a vaccine manufacturing company and I guarantee you they will be pumping out product as fast as they can. But don't expect a Defense production act to be capable of speeding up production. Plants can only put out so much and there is no time to certify new or alternative production facilities (that can take years). What he can do is utilize Federal resources to ensure fair and effective distribution, but production volume is going to be maximized and limited. We all need to calm down and wait our turn, the end may not be close but it is within sight. Just please for the sake of humanity, don't let the anti-vax conspiracy theory's take hold. I fear what the next few months of false information are going to look like. It's already rearing it's ugly head in this thread.
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Dec 02, 2020 11:27 AMLet's just leave it at "Biden can't do diddly" period.
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Dec 02, 2020 11:47 AMOK.....
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Dec 02, 2020 01:44 PMDisappointing to see the Trumpians pile on Biden before he has even started his job, and was prevented from getting an early start by the Repubs. If you keep up the extremist tactics of the last 4 yrs, our republic will be the loser. I hope all of your friends and relatives act just like Trump. That would be a fitting punishment.
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Dec 02, 2020 02:33 PMDOULIE - who do you think is pulling Biden's "strings?"
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Dec 02, 2020 03:31 PMGive me a break pit, like you weren’t a complaining and griping Never-trumper from the moment you found out he won and probably even before that. Puhleeeez. No dem or lib was out there saying “let’s just give him a chance.” Lmao, nice try.
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Dec 02, 2020 07:42 PMWaaah! Good thing you're not a 5 year old.
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Dec 02, 2020 08:02 PMNot true, 420722. Lots of democrats gave Trump a chance. We may have been skeptical, but we kept hoping for the best. Remember how people kept saying, “okay, now he’s going to pivot, now he will act presidential,”? But he never did.
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Dec 02, 2020 08:34 PMYacht...right, then we’d have a lot more in common. Bahahahah.
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Dec 02, 2020 08:40 PM3:31, Libs live in your head rent free 24/7
So many voices!
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Dec 03, 2020 12:17 AM10-4!
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Dec 01, 2020 07:23 PMLoose, your frustration is understandable. All of us are in suspended lifestyles at best, in risk of death, disability or severe illness at worse, until a vaccine in universally available. A new administration will be sworn in to lead the United States out of the current mismanaged/ not managed Covid pandemic response, and President elect Biden has already pledged to invoke the Defense Production Act to rapidly respond to the need for vaccines, PPE and other aid to health providers. It will take time, but at last there is hope. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-20/biden-eyes-more-muscular-use-of-defense-law-to-boost-ppe-output
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Dec 02, 2020 07:17 AMA-1606879413 : The Bloomberg article you cite refers to PPE (protective equipment), not the vaccine. I have no objection to the principle of distributing the vaccine in phases. It only makes sense to vaccinate health-care workers and people who are at at-risk (seniors, sick people) first, so I don't mind waiting. But seriously? Five or six more months before I can get immunized seems like an absurdly long length of time. Ahe where do teachers fit into this scenario: April ? (Guess that means more Zoom classes for the Spring. What a rotten prospect!) The Defense Production Act needs to be invoked to accelerate the production of the vaccine. This is a war we are fighting. Why are we going at snail's pace?
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Dec 02, 2020 09:04 AMLOOSE - Myself, I'll just wait until the vaccine is proven effective & without significant side effects on a large majority of the vaccinated population. If COVID gets me, that's on me. Is it wise to have (all) essential people vaccinated at one time?
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Dec 02, 2020 05:12 PMIn what world are we “moving at a snails pace”?? The coronavirus existed for maybe a year now, and we already have multiple vaccines ready and effective at unbelievable levels of efficacy. This is the FASTEST it could possibly have been done. And you think it’s a “snails pace”? You should be the last person to get a vaccine.
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Dec 02, 2020 05:49 PMSkeeter, it's because Trump is the president and anything associated with him is bad, wrong, or could have been done better. So even though this the fastest a vaccine has ever been created, tested and manufactured, if only anyone else was president it could have been done faster, with a higher effective rate, less side effects, etc....
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Dec 02, 2020 06:09 PMThe vaccine was not created due to the lame-duck US president. This was a global effort.
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Dec 02, 2020 08:08 PMDoullie, the answer is Yes - Yes it is wise. Vaccines work. Period.
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Dec 02, 2020 10:16 PMBASIC - What if something like HEADLEY reported occurs when the administration rushed out the flu vaccine and major medical issues occurred.
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Dec 02, 2020 11:00 PMDoulie, they key concerns are that these vaccines have been rushed, and many of them are using experimental delivery systems. Traditional vaccines use inactive/attenuated viruses, or viral proteins expressed in another organism such as plants. Many of these new COVID vaccines are using DNA (adenovirus) or mRNA (encapsulated in lipids) to deliver a coding sequence so the vaccinated person's own cells can produce the antigen (spike protein for example). There are a lot of risks associated with this, such as triggering an autoimmune reaction. I wouldn't be a candidate for the vaccine until they get to the "everyone else" (stage 4?) category anyway, so I can sit and observe this global experiment with much interest and then decide in a year or so if I want to get the vaccine. I'm in no rush.
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Dec 01, 2020 11:12 PMHealth providors and people working in hospital MUST get the vaccine first...some have been working with no days off at all. The daily grind is so physically challenging..so..just be patient...it is not possible for every one to be vaccinated in one day. Now wait for the anti vaxers to start blowing their trumpets! Loose cannon sounds desperate to receive the vaccine..and there will probably be half the population against it. Heck..we cannot even get every one to agree to wear a mask...!
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Dec 02, 2020 09:38 AMHZ - Must, first providers be required to take the vaccine? I refer you to the HEADLEY 6:50am comment. Also, a question I submitted. Is it wise to have (all) essential people vaccinated at one time?
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Dec 02, 2020 05:41 AMDas Williams will likely get his vaccine first!
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Dec 02, 2020 06:50 AMJust remember back in the 70's when the Ford administration rushed out a flu vaccine and dozens of people contracted Guillain-Barré and senior citizens were dying of heart attacks. There is a reason these things take time. And frankly, good on the health care workers who are volunteering to be the first ones so the rest of us can see it is safe. Patience is a virtue (as my Latin teach used to say to me daily for some reason).
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Dec 02, 2020 07:06 PMGC- that was half a century ago. I’m sure the medical world has advanced no?
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Dec 02, 2020 07:15 AMIf you are a health care worker, are you willing to be the guinea pig for these vaccines? I read that CA's allocation was 327,000 doses (need two doses per person) and with 58 counties, that is not enough for our health care workers. It's going to be a while.
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Dec 02, 2020 05:10 PMYou’re acting like they haven’t tested this on thousands and thousands of people already. What do you mean “guinea pig”? You mean like the people who signed up to be in the trial and test it already? Come on.... it’s been tested. It’s safe.
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Dec 02, 2020 05:37 PMYou're acting like drugs that have been tested on thousands and thousands of people have never been recalled because they were later deemed to be harmful. Look up Merck's Rofecoxib (Vioxx).
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Dec 02, 2020 08:59 AMRight behind health care workers in priority for protection are school teachers. Just my opinion, but getting schools open and kept open is an essential activity for young people, their families and our community.
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Dec 02, 2020 09:33 AMI believe the CDC had teachers listed in the second phase of essential workers.
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Dec 02, 2020 10:20 AMFrom an entirely different perspective,,
I will not be getting a vaccine, ever.
I simply don't trust any western medicine,
& find that I experience the worst side-effects from all meds.."non-reactive", I think it's called.
Opinions?
Comment has been deleted by edhat
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Dec 02, 2020 08:38 PMNostrachumash do you not use any type of western medicine at all? No dental care? No surgery? No antibiotics?
That's actually pretty amazing if true.
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Dec 02, 2020 08:50 PM@Nostra, I respect non-western modes of medicine, and spent a decade studying a couple of modalities you might appreciate. As far as the worst side-effects of pills always afflicting you, I found it extremely interesting to hear two days ago that the only side-effects of Pfizer's (or was it Moderna's?) vaccine were experience only by the PLACEBO group. The mind is a powerful thing, for better or for worse.
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Dec 02, 2020 08:51 PM@Basic, who's Tom? And why the name calling? You might see someone for that anger.
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Dec 02, 2020 09:47 PMIf you replace "Tom" with "to" the sentence makes more sense. I'm guessing that's an autocorrect substitution. They were probably leaving a reply using a smartphone, which in my experience can get pretty aggressive with the autocorrect and text prediction.
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Dec 02, 2020 10:14 PMIf you were in the military, you were vaccinated at some point.
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Dec 02, 2020 11:43 PMI agree. I have never done so and I did not allow the doctors to put that in my son either. I will not get the vaccine and I hope my son doesn’t as well.
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Dec 03, 2020 12:08 AMWow!
Not cool, BASICINFO !
Apparently there are many people on this community board that have differing opinions; that is fine. To be able to speak freely and openly is a luxury. Please don’t call anyone an “idiot”.
Thanks.
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Dec 02, 2020 07:07 PMNice discussion on NPR:
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/02/941610789/cdc-immunization-advisory-committee-member-on-distribution-of-coronavirus-vaccin
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Dec 02, 2020 11:27 PMI won’t get it. I’m 50+ and my parents are 80+. We isolate and have been doing just fine. Is that wrong?
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Dec 03, 2020 11:37 AMIt's a gamble, but might pay off. The longer this goes on, the more frustrated people will ignore the rules, and the chancier it will get to go out for groceries. Watch the hospital rates and decide where you will go if you need emergency surgery and there are no beds at your local hospital.
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Dec 04, 2020 01:48 AM10-4!
Thank you