By Jade Martinez-Pogue, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @MartinezPogue
March 2, 2021
| 6:32 p.m.
While the COVID-19 vaccine supply has been limited in Santa Barbara County and statewide, larger amounts of vaccine doses have started to make their way to the county.
The county received a 22% increase in first doses compared to last week’s allocation, Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso said at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
As of Tuesday, the county has been allocated and received 99,220 doses of the vaccine, according to the county s Community Data Dashboard.
Do-Reynoso said Sunday that the county is receiving about 14,000 doses this week, which is a big boost from the 6,000-per-week amount the county was reporting in January and part of February.
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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.
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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.