Public Health Department Urges Residents to “Take Your Shot” to Stop COVID-19

Source: Santa Barbara County Public Health Department

As California begins to fully reopen, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department launched a public service campaign, urging all eligible Santa Barbara County residents to get the COVID-19 vaccination. The public service campaign features video testimonials from North and South County physicians, journalists, and community members who share their reasons for getting the vaccine.

“When the pandemic hit, the clinical trials were able to be employed quickly and efficiently, and within a small number of months we had a lot of very good safety data. We have good systems in place to look for adverse effects and side effects,” said Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons, Chair of Infectious Diseases at Cottage Health.  

County resident Brittany Watts is currently getting her master’s degree in cell biology and microbiology. She’s also seven months pregnant. “After looking at the data, me and my doctor both decided it would be the safest route for me to get vaccinated and this would really protect me and also my baby,” stated Watts.

Although COVID-19 cases continue to decline in the County, according to Santa Barbara County public health director Van Do-Reynoso there are still nearly one in three community members who are over twelve years of age that have not been vaccinated.

Santa Barbara County public health officer Henning Ansorg emphasized that all current patients battling COVID-19, including three in the ICU, decided not to receive a vaccination. “We now see that almost all patients who are requiring hospital care and ICU admissions are unvaccinated people,” Ansorg explained.

The county-wide campaign is part of the Health Department’s ongoing efforts to increase public knowledge of crucial actions to stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep our communities safe.

“There are currently 22 community partners doing outreach and education throughout the county to increase vaccination rates,” said Do-Reynoso. Throughout the pandemic more than 43,000 County residents have registered to receive E-newsletters, and the Public Health department sent more than 100 COVID-related E-newsletters.

“Getting your COVID-19 vaccine– it’s not just about you. It’s about protecting the people that you love– your family and your friends. It’s about getting our communities back to normal,” said Dr. Alicia Gonzalez, the medical director for emergency medicine at Marian Regional Medical Center.

To watch full video testimonials and schedule your vaccine appointment, visit the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department website: https://publichealthsbc.org/.

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  1. The Delta variant is of particular concern to the unvaccinated, although the vaccines are not as effective against it as against the original (Alpha) variant. It isn’t about keeping a death grip on the populace–at least not to remotely informed or intelligent people.

  2. The more unvaccinated people there are, the more variants we’ll get. Unless you have a valid medical reason that prevents you from being vaccinated, you are just being an idiot and a threat to the community.

  3. If fully vaccinated people in Israel , and UK are getting the delta covid virus, wouldn’t it be wise to require masks indoors for everyone? Or do we wait until it gets so bad before the CDC requires mask? Remember the delay in requiring masks at the start of the pandemic and the disastrous results. Since then the CDC wishes they had required masks sooner…are they repeating the same mistake. Especially with essential indoor places like grocery stores, they should still require masks. The pandemic is far from over. Even if vaxed … we are prolonging covid-19 by taking off the masks indoors like grocery stores …

  4. The vaccines aren’t quite as effective against Delta, but they are still very effective. The biggest threat is to the unvaccinated, for whom the Delta virus is both more contagious and more dangerous. This is particularly true for children, so I agree that we should err on the side of caution.

  5. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/medical/nearly-30-of-those-dying-with-delta-variant-of-covid-are-double-vaccinated/ar-AAL1RQE
    I find it curious that the symptoms of the “Delta Variant” are so different from Covid=19. Covid-19 is a cough and high fever, mimics the flu (ironically during flu season) and the “Delta Variant” is sneezing, runny nose, and a headache….. much like hay fever, allergy season. I’m not a scientist, but how does a variant of the same virus display such different symptoms?

  6. In science, first we gather evidence, then we attempt to develop explanations. One of the observations is that the average age of those affected by the Delta variant is younger (in part because a lower percentage of them is vaccinated), and age can affect what symptoms appear, so that could be a possible part of an explanation. Also, mutations change function–such as being more infectious, but also changing what the consequences of infection are. If you think about it, “a variant of the same virus” is an oxymoron … they are similar enough to both be designated SARS-CoV-2, but they aren’t “the same virus”.

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