CORONAVIRUS CASES CONTINUE TO DROP AS VACCINATIONS RISE
Yolo County is continuing to see a drop in positive cases of COVID-19 and an increase in vaccinations against the virus, with eligibility expanding next week.
The county recorded 27 new COVID-19 cases on Friday — the last time the dashboard was updated — bringing the total number of cases to 12,778. Zero new deaths were added Friday, keeping the death toll at 185.
In Woodland, 17 new cases were recorded Friday, bringing the total to 5,366. Zero new deaths were reported. In total, 94 Woodland residents have died of COVID-19.
The test positivity rate is also quite low at 1.1% of tests administered in the county returning a positive result.
As of March 2, the county has administered 13,482 first doses and 9,651 second doses. A total of 64,020 doses have been administered throughout the whole county through both the county and healthcare agencies, according to California dashboards.
The county currently remains in Phase 1B, tier one of the vaccine rollout. This tier includes those who are 65 and older, emergency service workers, childcare workers (formal and informal), education workers, food and agriculture workers, and those who work in healthcare but have not yet been vaccinated.
The vaccination of education workers has been a priority for the county as districts begin planning to reopen schools. Last week, the county reserved 20% of its vaccine supplies for those in education and childcare, and the Yolo County Office of Education is partnering with Dignity Health to efficiently vaccinate this group.
Starting March 15, the county will begin vaccinating those between the ages of 16 and 64 with health conditions that put them at risk of severe COVID-19. These conditions include:
• Cancer that leads to a weakened immune system
• Chronic kidney disease, stage 4 or above
• Chronic pulmonary disease, and oxygen dependent
• Down syndrome
• Solid organ transplant, leading to a weakened immune system
• Pregnancy
• Sickle cell disease
• Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies (but not hypertension)
• Severe obesity (Body Mass Index ≥ 40)
• Type 2diabetes with hemoglobin
A1c level greater than 7.5%
Additionally, a person may be eligible for a vaccine if their health condition makes them likely to develop severe COVID-19, the disease would “limit the individual’s ability to receive ongoing care or services vital to their well-being and survival,” or a person’s disability would make COVID-19 treatment difficult.
Jenny Tan, the county’s public information officer, noted that the expanded eligibility may make the vaccination process move slower.
“The county is not getting more doses, but more people are eligible,” Tan said during Monday’s biweekly briefing. “Dr. (Aimee) Sisson uses the example of a pie and it’s very fitting. Think of the number of vaccines as a pie. The size of our vaccine pie is the same, we still get around the same number of doses each week, but now the slices of the pie are smaller because there are more people eligible to get a vaccine.”
This week, most clinics will be private. The county is hosting three vaccine clinics this week that may be open to the public on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The registration links for these clinics have not yet been posted.
After those with health conditions are vaccinated, Yolo County will move to a strictly aged-based vaccination process. The timeline and guidelines for this process have not yet been laid out.
For more information on vaccination clinics, including for registration links, visit yolocounty.org/coronavirus-vaccine or call Yolo 211.