Educators, Child Care Workers Among Eligible Recipients for COVID-19 Vaccine Appointments
In a screenshot from Friday’s virtual press conference, Santa Barbara County Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso, top, discusses local distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. By Brooke Holland, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @BT Holland
February 26, 2021
| 9:30 p.m.
Educators and child care employees in Santa Barbara County, along with food and agricultural workers and emergency services staff, are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment as soon as next week.
Grocery store workers, employees in emergency services and Phase 1a health care workers can schedule vaccine appointments for Public Health-run vaccination sites starting at 9 a.m. Monday, according to the county s COVID-19 Joint Information Center.
Housing and Development Newsletter
Initially, the vaccines had to be stored in ultra-low temperature freezers between -112 degrees and -76 degrees, according to the FDA.
“This alternative temperature for transportation and storage of the undiluted vials is significant and allows the vials to be transported and stored under more flexible conditions,” said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
“The alternative temperature for transportation and storage will help ease the burden of procuring ultra-low-cold storage equipment for vaccination sites, and should help to get vaccine to more sites.”
In order to vaccinate more vulnerable populations, the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute (SDRI) has begun distributing the vaccine to Santa Barbara’s diabetic community, specifically older Hispanic/Latino adults living with diabetes, according to Katie Haq, assistant director of marketing and communications at Sansum.
Updated list of where to go for testing in Santa Barbara County
A mobile COVID-19 testing site moved to Waller Park in Santa Maria. Free appointments are available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. (KEYT.com photo) By Jade Martinez-Pogue, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @MartinezPogue
February 23, 2021
| 3:18 p.m.
To expand COVID-19 testing access for residents across Santa Barbara County, the Public Health Department moved its mobile testing unit to Santa Maria and will be holding a walk-in pop-up testing site in Santa Barbara on Wednesday.
The mobile testing unit, which can test 500 people per day, moved from Santa Barbara to Lompoc and now to Waller Park Baseball Field in Santa Maria, located at 300 Goodwin Road.
Santa Barbara County officials say they re not sure yet how the plan will roll out at the local level; 154 new cases of the virus and four more deaths are reported
How Many People Have Been Vaccinated in Santa Barbara County So Far?
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department has not reported an exact number, but it reported 39,700 first doses as of Feb. 2.
Several thousand more people have been vaccinated through the federal pharmacy program for skilled-nursing and assisted-living residents, and through Marian Regional Medical Center s program through Dignity Health (which had about 13,000 doses so far).
Do-Reynoso said Tuesday that about 64% of residents age 75-plus have been vaccinated, which would be about 20,800 people based on population estimates.
Do-Reynoso said she expects “the pie chart will shift to reflect the diversity in our workforce” as larger groups become eligible for vaccinations.