Rep. Panetta bolsters COVID-19 vaccine effort with federal grants
Bivalent booster numbers remain starkly low
Local public health centers are slated to receive a major boost in their COVID-19 vaccination efforts after Rep. Jimmy Panetta helped secure almost $475,000 in federal grants to expand services, particularly among underserved populations.
The health care win is a timely one, as COVID-19 hospitalization numbers continue to soar across the county while efforts to protect community members with the updated bivalent booster shot are falling flat.
“Widespread, up-to-date vaccination against COVID-19 is how we protect ourselves, families, and friends and keep on going forward. This federal funding is critical to expanding the work of our community health care workers who have worked tirelessly to vaccinate our communities and leave no one behind,” said Panetta in a prepared statement. “I'm proud that the federal government continues to play its part so that we at the local level can get vaccinated and get back to work, get together, get on the road to travel, and, ultimately, get back to living our normal lives.”
Watsonville-based service provider Salud Para La Gente will receive $298,093 while Santa Cruz County will take in $174,595. The grants are part of a $1.4 million package from the Depart- ment of Health and Human Services that will be distributed amongst four health centers along the Central Coast.
“This supplemental award of $298,093 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services allows us to continue to keep our patients and community safe through the winter and into the new year, by supporting expanded Covid-19 vaccine activities,” said Salud Para La Gente CEO Dori Rose Inda.
Vaccination metrics
According to the state's vaccine dashboard, only 63,714 or 30% of eligible Santa Cruz County residents have received the bivalent COVID-19 booster shot, which was made available in September and provides protection against the latest variants. In the South County ZIP code of 95076 encompassing the city of Watsonville and broader Pajaro Valley region, just 3,952 or 5.8% of its 67,862 eligible residents have taken the bivalent booster.
Comparatively, 211,591 residents county-wide or 76.9% received their primary COVID-19 vaccination series.
“We are so grateful for this funding as it will allow us to continue to reduce disease in our community, work towards equity, and provide outreach to our most vulnerable populations,” said Amy Peeler, Chief of Clinic Services in Santa Cruz County.
Cost of infections
For weeks, Santa Cruz health officials have been warning of a surge in respiratory illness resulting from widespread cases of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus or RSV. Earlier this month, County Deputy Health Officer David Ghilarducci told the Sentinel local hospitals had already reached 95% to 98% capacity and local data shows that numbers are still high.
As of Dec. 29, there were 24 hospitalized patients in the county with COVID-19, according to a state dashboard. That number was as high 32 just 10 days prior on Dec. 19.
And the spike is not expected to subside any time soon. Ghilarducci told the Sentinel infections and hospitalizations tend to steeply rise after the holidays and numbers will likely not peak until “probably a couple weeks” into January.