Nearly 3,000 doses administered in Yolo County

CVS, Walgreens have not administered vaccinations yet

Since mid- December, Yolo County has distributed nearly 3,000 doses of the COVID- 19 vaccine, a small number compared to the 220,500 residents of the county.

Overall, the county has received 4,550 total doses so far, and distributed 2,862 of them as of Wednesday — the last time the vaccination dashboard was up

dated.

Some individuals who have received the vaccine are not residents of Yolo County, given the fact that some individuals work in Yolo County, but do not reside there.

The county is only now getting to the last section of Phase 1A, tier one, with dialysis centers starting this week. Acute care, psychiatric and correctional facility hospital staff are receiving their second vaccine doses this week as well.

The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses, 21 days apart. The Moderna vaccine also requires two doses, 28 days apart.

Aside from hospital staff, vaccinations are currently ongoing for:

• residents and staff at skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities and other settings for elderly and medically vulnerable individuals

• Paramedics, EMTs and other individuals providing emergency medical services, such as AMR staff and firefighters

• Dialysis centers, including DaVita Dialysis and Fresenius Kidney Care

Once all of the above receive their vaccinations, the county will have completed the first tier, which Jenny Tan, Yolo County’s public information officer, said should be done by the end of this week. The county will then move on to the second and third tiers in Phase 1A. The second tier includes:

• Intermediate care facilities

• Home health- care and in- home supportive services

• Community health workers

• Public health staff

• Primary care clinics, such as: health centers, correctional facility clinics and urgent care clinics

The third tier includes:

• Specialty clinics

• Laboratory workers

• Dental and oral health clinics

• Pharmacy staff After Phase 1A, the county will begin Phase 1B — which includes essential workers — and then Phase 1C — which includes those at risk of serious illness and workers in critical infrastructure.

During Tuesday’s Woodland City Council meeting, Yolo County Public Health Officer, Dr. Aimee Sisson, said that there are enough doses to complete Phase 1, but not for Phase 2. It’s even unclear, she noted, when the next batch of vaccines will be received.

Both Phases 2 and 3 involve vaccinating the public at large. Tan estimates these phases to be completed by the summer.

The county is currently the sole provider of vaccinations, and vaccinations are currently being administered by nurses. The county has hired additional nurses in order to assist in the distribution, according to Tan.

The federal government has partnered with CVS and Walgreens to provide vaccinations, mainly to long- term care facilities. In Yolo County, however, the two companies have not yet started vaccinations.

In Thursday’s daily briefing, Tan explained that vaccination numbers are hard to record and tend to lag. It will only be harder once doctors offices and pharmacies begin administration.

California has been criticized for its slow vaccination distribution. Only 1% of the population has been vaccinated against the virus that has already claimed 28,538 lives in the state, including 126 in Yolo County.

The slow vaccine rollout comes at a dark time for the state. A total of 98.3% of the population is under a strict stay- at- home order, as ICU capacity continues to drop throughout the state. The Southern California and San Juaquin Valley regions have maintained 0% capacity for weeks. The Bay Area has dropped to 3%, and the Sacramento region — which includes Yolo County — has dropped to 6.4%.

A region cannot be moved out of the regional order under the four- week projected ICU capacity is above 15%. Projections involve: current ICU capacity, the current seven- day average case rate, current transmission rate and the current rate of ICU admission.

If a region’s projections show a four- week projected ICU capacity over 15%, the counties in the region will revert back to the tiered system. Yolo County would be in the purple tier, the strictest one.

The state is anticipating higher case counts and hospitalizations in the coming days due to Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.

Since March, Yolo County has seen 8,970 positive cases of COVID- 19, with an additional 137 reported Thursday with a test positivity rate of 11.9%. There are 34 residents in hospital, with 13 in the ICU. As of Thursday, 11 ICU beds were available.

In Woodland, 3,752 residents have tested positive and 71 have died.