McNerney visits Delta College vaccination clinic
Despite 16% residents fully vaccinated, county remains in red tier
Rep. Jerry McNerney, DStockton, wants everyone in his district to be fully vaccinated as soon as possible so residents feel safe, and so the three counties he serves can reopen quickly.
To begin spreading that message to constituents, McNerney on Tuesday visited a Community Medical Centers vaccination clinic hosted by San Joaquin Delta College.
“I wanted to make sure things are running smoothly. There’s a lot of federal money going out to this kind of program, (or) community health centers. I think we just got $18 million for the State of California for additional work for community health centers. This is sort of a due diligence, but also, my presence might encourage people to come out and get their shots. We want to make sure as many people get a vaccine as soon as possible.”
Tuesday’s clinic was one of several provided for Delta College employees to receive their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
McNerney spoke with the CMC nurses and Delta College nursing students administering the vaccines, and was impressed with the way the two entities collaborated.
“It seems to be going pretty well,” he said. “You see people coming in at about the right pace, and they’re getting their shot. And people waiting in another for 15 minutes after their shots. It’s exactly like it should be. And these are people getting their second doses. That’s really encouraging. So they can be fully protected. I just want to see that this program moves effectively in my district.”
One of the students with whom McNerney spoke was Carrie Temple, who is completing her fourth semester of nursing at Delta.
Temple said she has administered vaccines at prior clinics at Delta at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, and at first, sticking patients with a needle was a little intimidating. But, after giving
about 100 shots in recent months, it’s become second nature,
While some of the people she has encountered have been nervous to receive a dose, everybody is excited to be a part of history, she said.
“It’s just a quick poke,” Temple said. It really is. It’s just .5 mL, and most people don’t even feel it. I show them the empty needle so they believe it.”
Temple said that as more vaccines are administered throughout the county, the hope is that more people will see the needs and benefits of them and not be apprehensive to receive one.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” she said. “There are some reactions, but it’s better to have those reactions than have you or your loved one be on a ventilator. I’ve seen a lot of it.”
Jessica Cardoso, animal science professor at Delta, was one of several school employees to get her second shot Tuesday.
She said the nursing students were doing a great job of preparing vaccine recipients, and the whole experience was not as harrowing as some might make it out to be.
With Wednesday being a non-instructional day for Delta, Cardoso said she is ready to face any side effects or reactions that might appear from the her second dose. She said she wasn’t worried.
“I’m prepared by not expecting it,” she said. “I think it was one of those things where I heard enough people ... even my mom, who works in the health care industry, she had gotten hers about a month and a half ago. She had a bit of a reaction, but it was only 24 hours, so I was kind of like, okay, I’ve got Tylenol at home. I’m prepared, I’ve got lots of water and I’ll keep myself hydrated.”
According to San Joaquin County Public Health Services, 172,738 vaccines had been administered throughout the county as of Tuesday.
Of those, 93,022 residents have been fully vaccinated. That’s 16.53% of the county.
“It was exciting to share with (McNerney) our collaboration and the ability to show what that collaboration can do by providing an event like this,” CMC CEO Christine Noguera said. “The other thing I was really happy about is that the congressman has been very supportive of federally qualified health centers. He has supported the CARES Act through the whole pandemic to be sure (the government) includes funds for (federally qualified health centers), and now he gets to see what some of those dollars are actually doing.”
While the number of vaccinations continues to increase, San Joaquin County remains in the purple tier of the California Department of Public Health’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
As of Tuesday, the county’s new case rate was 10.2 per 100,000 residents, missing promotion to the red tier by two-tenths of a point.
The county’s positivity and health equity rates were 4.4% and 4.8%, respectively, qualifying for the orange tier and providing one week’s worth of red tier credit.
If those two metrics remain stable for the next week and the new case rate falls below 10 per 100,000 residents, the county will be promoted to the red tier by next Tuesday.
San Joaquin County was one of three still in the purple tier, along with Merced and Inyo. There are 36 counties now in the red tier, including Sacramento, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Amador and Contra Costa.
In addition, there are 17 counties in the orange tier, including San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda. Sierra and Alpine counties remain the only two in the yellow tier.