Lake County moves into orange tier
Lake County got the green light on Tuesday to move into the state’s less restrictive orange tier effective Wednesday.
The move up to orange comes at a time when he county has been experiencing a surplus of COVID-19 vaccines. Those extra doses should come in handy as the state temporarily halts distribution of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose shot because of side effects experienced by many across the country.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday morning they were recommending a pause on administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of a rare blood-clotting disorder that six
American women have experienced since getting the shot. Nearly 7 million people in the U.S. have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine so far.
Lake County residents who had appointments this week to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be contacted to see if they would like to instead switch to the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. Appointments will also open up Thursday to all California residents age 16 and older through My Turn, the state’s vaccine appointment scheduling system.
Dr. Evan Bloom addressed the Johnson & Johnson news Tuesday morning at the Lake County Board of Supervisors meeting. It was Bloom’s first time filling in for Dr. Gary Pace, the county’s public health director, who is on vacation and is leaving his post at the end of the month.
“It is a small, very small number — what I’m being told and have read about — of blood clots that may possibly be associated,” Bloom said. “But there’s not enough data at this time to say whether or not there is a causal effect, meaning that the vaccine caused the blood clots, and whether or not an association even actually exists.”
The news about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine comes as Pace and county supervisors have discussed vaccine hesitancy among county residents in recent weeks. Despite that, demand has increased among younger people as eligibility has opened up for people ages 20-55, said Sarah Marikos, epidemiologist for Lake County.
“I think this is promising news that our younger age groups are interested in getting the vaccine and have shown up in the last week to do so,” Marikos said.
So far, two out of three people age 65 and older are at least partially vaccinated in the county, she said.
“I was really pleased to see that just in the past seven days, more than 1,000 people 55 to 64 years of age received their first dose, so a 30-percent increase from the week prior,” Marikos said.
Two residents who addressed the board said they were surprised Bloom was strongly encouraging people to get vaccinated because they were concerned about possible severe side effects and about the lack of knowledge of long-term effects.
Resident Kathy Toy said she wanted to see the community get vaccinated and continue to wear masks so that people could move on with their lives.
“I just would like to be in support of being community-oriented as opposed to self-oriented,” Toy said.