Tulare County expands eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines
Tulare County Public Health is now offering vaccinations to those eligible with underlying and high-risk health conditions. Those 16-64 years old who have an underlying heath condition or disability which increases their risk of severe COVID-19 can now make an appointment to be vaccinated.
Healthcare providers may use their judgement to vaccinate individuals ages 16-64 who are deemed to be at the very highest risk to become sick from COVID-19 because they have the following severe health conditions:
Cancer, with a weakened immune system; chronic kidney disease, stage 4 and above; chronic pulmonary disease, oxygen dependent; Down syndrome; solid organ transpant, leading to a weakened immune system; pregnancy; Sickle cell disease; heart condition such as heart failure, coronary heart disease or cardiomyopathies; severe obesity (body mass index of at least 40 kg/m2; type 2 diabetes mellitus with helmoglobin A1c level great than 7.5 percent.
Those who are developmentally disabled or have a severe high-risk disability are eligibile to be vaccinated in the following cases:
The individual is likely to develop severe
life-threating illness or death from COVID-19 infection; Acquiring COVID-19 will limit the individual’s ability to receive ongoing care or services vital to their well-being and survival; providing adequate and timely COVID care will be particularly challenging as a result of the individual’s disability.
Tulare County residents and workers who are currently eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, including residents with underlying high-risk health conditions, can now be vaccinated at multiple locations throughout the county. There are five primary ways people with these high-risk conditions or disabilities may be able to find an appointment:
Health Care Provider or Doctor: “We strongly recommend individuals with these conditions seek vaccination with a primary health care provider or system, or in an alternate clinical setting,” The health department stated. “Check first with your usual health care provider to see if they have vaccines and available appointments. Health care providers who have vaccines may also begin reaching out to you, as a patient with a significant, high-risk medical condition or disability known to the provider, to schedule your vaccine appointment.”
Pharmacies: During month of March, federal policy calls for all school and childcare staff to be prioritized for pharmacy vaccines, so supply for other populations remains limited.
Community Pop-up Clinics: Community popup clinics for people with high-risk medical conditions and disabilities will roll out and will be targeted for equity to those living in communities with the lowest Healthy Place Index. Community partners will contact people eligible for the pop-up clinics.
Myturn: Throughout the spring, as vaccine supply increases and the statewide vaccinator network grows, residents will be able to schedule an appointment through California’s Myturn, in two ways:
On-line at www.myturn.ca.gov. The Myturn website is accessible to people with disabilities and in eight languages: English, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Japanese.
Calling the COVID-19 Hotline at 1-833-422-4255 or 1-833-4CA-4ALL. The Hotline is accessible to people with disabilities and offers services in English and Spanish, with connections to interpretive services in more than 250 languages.
Anyone who meets the eligibility requirements to receive the COVID Vaccine can also visit the Tulare County COVID Vaccine webpage at:
https://covid19.tularecounty.ca.gov/covid19-vaccine/ for more vaccination locations including a full listing of healthcare providers and local pharmacies offering COVID vaccinations.
“We urge all our newly eligible residents and workforce to not delay and get vaccinated as soon as possible,” shared Dr. Karen Haught, Tulare County Public Health Officer. “This vaccine is our best line of defense against the COVID-19 virus, as we look to build immunity in our community, allowing us to safely lift restrictions on businesses, open schools, and ultimately bring this horrible pandemic to an end.”
To protect confidentiality those who are eligible will only have to sign a form stating they meet the criteria for high-risk medical conditions or disabilities.f
For more information about COVID-19, visit www.tchhsa.org/ ncov and www.covid19. tularecounty.ca.gov
FACEBOOK EFFORT
Facebook has announced it’s providing new tools to help people find where they can be vaccinated. Facebook is providing a Vaccine Finder Tool in which it has partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital to help users find nearby locations that offer vaccines. Users can search for vaccine locations and make an appointment directly from their news feeds.
In partnership with the Centers For Disease Control, Facebook is also launching profile picture frame options that allow users to show their support for COVID-19 vaccines, including tools that allow users to share with friends and family they have been vaccinated.
Facebook will also provide public officials with real-aggregate trends in COVID-19 vaccinations for information so they can take such measures as making sure there’s an equitable vaccine rollout.
Through Partner Credits, Facebook will also provide partners with enough ad credits to reach nearly everyone on Facebook and Instagram with critical COVID-19 messaging.
Facebook has also launched an effort to make it easy to track how Covid-vaccine information is being spread on social media through Crowdtangle’s COVID-19 Live Displays. Publishers, global aid organizations, journalists and others can access real-time, global streams of vaccine-related posts on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit in 34 languages.
Facebook is promoting these tools to Californians according to vaccine eligibility, including age, occupation and location. As vaccine eligibility expands, the Facebook features will be promoted to more people.
FREE BUS RIDES
Tulare County is providing free bus rides for those heading to their vaccine appointments. Beginning today, Tulare County transit services offer free bus rides on existing bus routes for those heading to vaccine appointments. The free transit services is also being provided in Visalia, Porterville, Tulare and Dinuba.
Passengers going to their vaccination appointments must let their bus driver now as soon as they board and show proof of vaccination appointment confirmation for that day. Riders can present printed confirmations or confirmations on their cell phones.
The free service is available on more than 35 bus routes in the county and includes all transfers necessary to make vaccine appointments. The free service is also provided to and from vaccine appointments. The free service only applies to fixed bus routes and not to Dial-aride services.
Riders must wear face masks and socially distance. Those who have vaccination appointments are urged to use the Tcat Trip Planner application, www.ridetcat.org, or call The Green Line, 1-877-4046473.