Phase 1B workers eligible Vaccines available for all in education, ag, food and emergency services

All Yuba-sutter workers who fall within the Phase 1B, Tier 1 of the state’s vaccination schedule will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, regardless of age, as of March 1.

Those jobs include education, childcare, agriculture, food and emergency services. Those workers will have the same vaccination eligibility as healthcare workers and residents age 65 and above, according to a press release from Yuba-sutter Health.

The expansion to local vaccination rollout efforts comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that all educators in the state would be eligible to receive a vaccine beginning the first day of March.

Locally, Bi-county Health Officer Dr. Phuong Luu said the other vital sectors that share the same phase and tier with educators will also be eligible at that time.

“The phased vaccination plan established by the state many weeks ago rightly prioritized working sectors that carried the greatest overall risk for exposure to COVID-19,” said Luu. “Anytime the plan is adjusted, it’s important we maintain parity across each of those high-risk professions, in order to best protect the overall community.”

According to Luu, a person’s age is still the greatest consideration when assessing health risks associated with the virus.

“A person in their 50s is three times more likely to die from a COVID-19 infection than someone in their 40s, and 400 times more likely than a teenager who catches the same virus,” said Luu. “By the time a person reaches the age of 65, the risk of death increases nearly three-fold.”

Registration information for countysponsored clinics can be found at yuba.org/ vaccines or suttercounty. org/vaccine, or by calling

634-7496 (Yuba County) or 822-5985 (Sutter County).

“I still strongly encourage our senior residents to register for a vaccination,” said Luu. “It is safe and vital to protecting your health.”

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Yuba-sutter area increased by 18 on Wednesday, bringing the total to 14,548 cases. Of the total number of cases reported, 334 are active at this time.

There were 36 people hospitalized as of Wednesday evening, while 22 people recovered from the virus. To date, 132 Yuba-sutter residents have died from the virus.

Colusa County also

continues to move through Phase 1B of the vaccination schedule at this time and, as of Monday, 2,515 COVID-19 vaccinations have been allocated and received by Colusa County.

Of those, 1,054 have been administered by Colusa County Public Health and 1,330 have been distributed to local health care partners.

As of Wednesday, health officials reported 2,127 positive COVID-19 cases within the county – an increase of 41 new cases since Feb. 17.

Of the total COVID-19 cases reported within Colusa County, 39 are active cases in isolation – including five individuals that have

been hospitalized at this time.

To date, 2,075 people have recovered from the virus within Colusa County.

Two additional virusrelated deaths were reported in Colusa County last week, bringing the areas total up to 13.

The 12th death, reported on Feb. 16, was a 72-year old male with underlying conditions, according to Marcos Kropf, Colusa County Counsel.

That individual died on Jan. 31.

The 13th death, reported on Feb. 18, was a 68-year old male that died on Feb. 4, said Kropf.