Health leaders said even as vaccinations ramp up, testing is still an important weapon in the fight against COVID, especially with new more contagious variants emerging. It allows us to quickly understand if someone is infected and to keep that person from infecting others, Santa Clara County Testing and Vaccine Officer Dr. Marty Fenstersheib said. It also allows us to detect concerning variants and testing is the only way to find a variant.
And without testing its hard to get an accurate picture of the number of infections circulating.
Fenstersheib said even though essential workers may have been vaccinated, he still recommends they get tested frequently as often as once a week. He also said others who have been vaccinated and out in the public should consider getting tested.
It’s a much smoother process at Zuckerberg San Francisco General’s vaccination site on Sunday. There was a long line that stretched down to the street and.
The visit was particularly exciting for Luisa Buado and her team from Ravenswood Family Health Center in East Palo Alto.
Throughout the pandemic, she has worked to provide access to covid testing, and now vaccinations, to underserved communities and now, she gets some help from Facebook.
“We have to improve equity, we have barrier free vaccine clinics. We make sure they meet the eligibility requirements which have now all been waived except you have to be 18 or older,” Buado said.
The vaccination site at Facebook particularly serves three nearby communities, which are East Palo Alto, and the communities of North Fair Oaks and Belle Haven.
Santa Clara County in the San Francisco Bay Area and Fresno County in the central valley are the latest to open up vaccinations to everyone eligible to get one, although younger residents in Santa Clara must book an appointment for April 15 or later. People age 16 and up can get the Pfizer vaccine while the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are for people 18 and older.
“The supply of COVID-19 vaccine has become more stable. We are able to move ahead of the (state) timeline and have been approved to lift the current restrictions in place to expand eligibility,” said Joe Prado, who is heading up Fresno County’s vaccinations.