Santa Barbara County added 70 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and 60 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the county's total to 30,991 confirmed cases as of February 16.
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For the first time, the county specifically said that residents may only receive the vaccine at the site in the region where they live, so residents signing up for vaccine appointments in Santa Maria and Lompoc have to live in the North County or Mid-County communities – not the South Coast.
The county has had four large-scale vaccination clinics specifically for 75-plus residents, and a lot of the people who signed up lived on the South Coast, even for appointments in Santa Maria. We are indeed attempting to preserve appointments for residents of the immediate area to ensure equitable access. It has been a challenge we have seen in prior appointment offerings, Ruiz said in response to a question from Noozhawk Monday afternoon.