Coren responds to ‘disinformation’

Mendocino County case rates still trending higher than other areas

During his latest report to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors this month, Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren said while the current amount of “misinformation and disinformation” being shared about the Covid-19 vaccines is not the first example of such efforts, it might be the “worst.”

“This is probably the worst example of misinformation and purposeful dissemination of incorrect information that’s being used to frighten people off of the Covid-19 vaccine,” said Coren, after three people called into a recent Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting to report the dangers they claimed the vaccines pose. “We have a very effective treatment against a very deadly disease, and I think that people should acknowledge that, and see if we can get out of this by safely vaccinating people and getting the numbers down as low as we possibly can.

“I would challenge the speakers who are saying that people are dying from the vaccine to produce their own research before they challenge the research I am presenting,” said Coren, referring to one woman’s claim that “children are dropping dead” from the vaccine.

When asked by 5th District Supervisor Ted Williams “how many children have died in Mendocino County from the vaccine,” the woman replied, “I don’t know if any have died in this county, but it is happening on the planet.”

First District Mendocino County Supervisor Glenn Mccourty then asked Coren, “if there is a large body of evidence that shows the vaccine is harming people, wouldn’t you be aware of that, as a scientist and a doctor?”

“Yes, I would be aware of it, and I would be sticking out my hand

to try and protect my patients and my community,” responded Coren. “Every case of illness or injury or death is recorded and researched, but there just isn’t any valid information that the risks of the vaccine outweigh the risks of not getting vaccinated.”

Coren said he is often asked by patients if he would give the vaccine to family members, and he says, “Yes, my family is vaccinated. As doctors, we don’t want to put something in a body that’s young and healthy, that we don’t feel more than 100 percent confident is better for them than not getting it. But it’s very clear: it is safer to be vaccinated.”

On Wednesday, Tami Bartolomei, the Office of

Emergency Service Coordinator for the city of Ukiah, told the Ukiah City Council that local public health officials are concerned about the holidays and cold weather creating another surge in cases.

“The case rates in Mendocino County are trending higher than many other areas, so with the holidays coming, and the winter weather moving people indoors, there’s a concern for even higher case rates coming up in the near future here,” Bartolomei said.

Mendocino County is no longer posting new Covid-19

case numbers every weekday. Its latest update was on Wednesday, Nov. 17, with a reported 61 new cases since Nov. 15 for a total of 8,013. Also as of Wednesday, there were only seven people hospitalized with the virus, three requiring the Intensive Care Unit.