30,000 on waitlist to get vaccinated in county

The waitlist for a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine in Contra Costa County has risen to about 30,000 residents amid a supply shortage that has plagued distribution around the Bay Area.

In an effort to boost its outreach, the county will open a new vaccination site at San Ramon’s Diablo Valley College campus. San Ramon is among the Contra Costa County cities and communities with the third lowest percentage of residents who have received their first dose.

While health officials have had some success in vaccine rollout — around 87% of residents over 75 have received their first dose as of Tuesday — supply chain problems have limited the county over the past month to distributing mostly second doses, rather than inoculating new patients.

Despite the lengthy backlog of people waiting for a shot, the county’s health director at a meeting Tuesday encouraged residents to continue signing up for a future appointment.

“We want you to consider adding your name (to the list) … because we know a lot more vaccination is going to move in,” said health director Anna Roth at Tuesday’s county supervisors’ meeting.

Meanwhile, health officials say they are addressing inequities in vaccine distribution among different cities and ethnic populations — gaps that county supervisors say aren’t shrinking fast enough.

Residents of cities less affected by the virus are still receiving shots at a higher rate than those in cities and communities harder hit by the pandemic.

And white residents are still receiving disproportionately more shots (18%) than “Hispanic or Latino” residents (13%), per county data, despite the latter group’s higher case rate (there is some overlap between the two groups in the county’s race and ethnicity categories).

Supervisor John Gioia pointed out Tuesday that Walnut Creek has seen 39% of its residents receive their first dose, despite having far fewer cases per 100,000 residents than COVID-leaders such as Bay Point and Antioch, which have respectively seen 14% and 11% in the same category.

“While the percentages are going up slowly,” Gioia said, “they’re still going up faster in higher-income communities.”

Early into the county’s vaccine rollout, health officials said the disparities partially had to do with frontline health care workers and senior citizens — two high-priority groups — skewing more white and living predominantly in certain cities.

A month later, health officials now say their efforts have fallen victim to overall supply shortages that have limited distribution to second doses instead of first ones.

One of the county’s initiatives is a pilot program to get farmworkers vaccinated. The program was rolled out this month in the county’s eastern region — cities like Oakley, Brentwood, Byron, Knightsen, Antioch and Pittsburg.

“We are opening up slots and getting farmworkers to the head of the line,” said Gilbert Salinas, the county’s equity officer.

As the health department works to close the gaps, its efforts will still refer to the county’s priority list for who receives vaccinations, one official noted at the meeting.

“Even in those communities of color that are really hard-hit, it’s the essential workers and the seniors that we’re targeting,” health officer Chris Farnitano said.

BERKELEY >> Public officials are calling out a video shared online of the teachers union president dropping his child off at a school as “stalking” and “harassment.”

The anonymous group “Guerilla Momz” followed the president of the Berkeley Teachers Federation, Matt Meyer, and filmed him dropping off his 2-year-old child at a private preschool. The video, which has more than 200,000 views on Youtube, sparked controversy, some calling Meyer a “hypocrite” as the union has opposed returning to Berkeley school until educators are vaccinated.

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin issued a statement Tuesday, posting it on his Twitter page, saying: “Now is not a time for conflict and division. We all have the same goal and want what is best for our children.”

“Stalking the President of the Berkeley Teachers Federation and his young child unnecessarily stokes divisions and creates polarization at a time when we need unity,” the mayor said.

Superintendent Brent Stephens also issued a statement to the community, saying the video was an invasion of privacy.

“Looking to what’s ahead of us, in these last weeks before we reopen, nothing is served by treating members of our community, including our teachers — and the teacher who represents them as their union president — as the enemy,” Stephens said. “We compromise our collective wellbeing if we don’t respect one another and treat each other with compassion.”

School board trustees also weighed in, issuing their own statements on Twitter.

“I was disheartened to hear about the recent harassment of the President of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, Matt Meyer, and his child. Whatever our differences in opinions may be, no student, parent, or educator should be subjected to harassment. We are better than this,” board member Ana Vasudeo wrote.

Board member Julie Sinai also called on the community to not “vilify hardworking teachers.”

“I’m disheartened that group of parents followed & filmed BFT Pres & his child for the sole purpose of attacking him & pitting parents vs teachers. Parents have every right to express outrage, but don’t vilify our hardworking teachers. We need to work together to reopen schools,” Sinai wrote on Twitter.

Board Vice President Ka’Dijah Brown wrote she was saddened to hear about the harassment of Meyer and his child. “I understand how frustrating this time has been for all of us, students, teachers and families alike. However, actions like this have the potential to cause more division. Let us continue to unite as a community to reopen our schools quickly and safely.”

School board President Ty Alper also called out the media for its republishing of the video and said he was shocked a parent would follow Meyer in his personal life.

“Publicly targeting the child of someone you disagree with is frightening and dangerous, and counter-productive to the collaboration that needs to happen to reopen our schools and to repair the harm our students have endured,” Alper wrote.

The school district announced last month that students could return to campus as soon as March 29 for preschool, transitional kindergarten and kindergarten through second grades. Grades three through eight could return April 12, while high school could return April 19, depending on the availability of teacher vaccinations.

Arreguin said in his statement he was pleased to help create a path forward for school reopenings and teacher vaccinations, “and the City/State will authorize more school reopening once we enter the Red Tier, which may happen as soon as next week if cases continue to decline.”

Guerilla Momz responded to the mayor’s comments online, saying a “one-time video of a public figure does not constitute stalking and the city attorney will tell you that. Our goal is open schools, 5 days a week. Teachers have hijacked vaccinations when they refuse to teach on campus 5 days per week — instead only offering 4 hours a week.”

In a statement Monday, Meyer noted there was a difference between a small preschool and a 10,000-student public school district in terms of size, facilities, public health guidance and services that legally have to be provided.

“We all want a safe return to school. The Berkeley Federation of Teachers is excited that Berkeley Unified will be reopening soon with a plan, supported by our members and the district, to get our students back in classrooms,” he said.