Health officials underscore need for continued vigilance
EL CENTRO — After a resident asked the Imperial County Board of Supervisors Tuesday to mandate that employees must work from home if they’re able through December to slow the coronavirus surge, county Health Officer Dr. Stephen Munday responded that has always been the health department’s recommendation.
Any work that can be done remotely should be done remotely,” he said.
ICPHD Director Janette Angulo said the vast majority of county residents who are catching the virus are young adults who have better chances of having slight to no symptoms while making full recoveries.
The Imperial County Public Health Department in its weekly meeting with the supervisors told the board about three potential vaccines, with one expected to be available by the middle of December for those in the most need.
The Pfizer vaccine is expected to be some to available by Dec. 15 followed by the Moderna vaccine a few weeks later.
Phase I rollouts of the vaccines would be for health organization workers and medical first responders. Phase II would be for high risk populations.
“There is a good chance by the spring this vaccine will be available,” Munday said. “By late spring to summer it will be available to everyone.”
Even as vaccines become available, the public needs to be assured that they are safe, Angulo said.
“The bottom line is we are preparing for vaccines to come in December,” Munday said, adding that since there will be a limited supply, the health department needs to come up with a plan to prioritize their administration.
“We are prepared to use that when it comes to us,” he said.
He also talked about the two hospitals’ capacity to accommodate more coronavirus patients along with the resources needed.
Both Munday and Angulo said a lot has changed since the initial surge in the summer. In the first surge, Imperial County was alone as most of the other counties in the state had already recovered.
Since most had recovered there were more resources available for the county, but now with the rest of the state surging at the same time the available resources are spread thinner.
Supervisor Jesus Eduardo Escobar said he thinks the surge is going to get a lot worse soon with the “four headed monster” of holidays and gatherings coming, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day where parties are very common.
“A lot of people are tired of staying at home, especially from a gathering standpoint,” he said. “At the end of the day, we can’t keep trying (what is not working).”
Angulo said the COVID-19 team has been getting the message out there on what the virus could potentially mean.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to personal responsibility and deciding, ‘ Am I going to take that risk?’” she said.
Escobar wanted to know what role law enforcement plays in making sure the public is not violating any of the health orders.
Angulo said the health department is not law enforcement and added the police departments’ role is to help get the message out to people against putting others at risk.