Countywide hospitalizations for COVID-19 dropped to six over the weekend, after 12 patients were reported on Friday, according to the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department.
None of the patients hospitalized with COVID-19 Friday was vaccinated, Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg said.
“Our vaccines … are so effective that it is becoming a rarity for people who are vaccinated to be seen in any hospital setting,” he said during Santa Barbara County’s last COVID-19 briefing.
On Monday, Public Health reported six people hospitalized with COVID-19, including four people in intensive care units.
The Public Health Department has been reporting novel coronavirus-related data almost daily since March 2020, including the number of new positive cases and hospitalized patients, but has now stopped reporting on weekends.
Seven new positive cases of the novel coronavirus were reported Monday, including at least one case in every age group of adults. Another eight cases were reported for Sunday and two were reported for Saturday.
There were 29 active cases in the county (people who recently tested positive and are still considered infectious) on Monday. with 11 of them in the Santa Barbara area, and another six in Santa Maria residents. No other regions of the county have more than three active cases.
No COVID-19-related deaths were reported Monday or over the weekend.
Growing vaccination rates and low community transmission of the novel coronavirus has allowed the state and county to end most pandemic-related restrictions, according to public health officials.
Indoor capacity limits, physical distancing requirements, and masking guidance changed for many public settings and workplaces last week, although masks are still required for everyone in some spaces.
More Mass Vaccination Clinics Plan Closures
COVID-19 vaccine doses are widely available, from dozens of local providers, including pharmacies, community clinics, and pop-up community sites managed by the Public Health Department.
Two long-running public vaccination sites run by local hospital systems are making changes this summer, due to the countywide decrease in demand for doses.
Cottage Health plans to close its vaccination clinic at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital on July 29, “allowing time for those 12 and up to complete both doses of the Pfizer vaccine at the clinic if they receive their first dose by July 8,” according to marketing director Bob Behbehanian.
Anyone who gets their first dose at the clinic after July 8 will be referred to a different provider for their second dose.
The mass vaccination clinic at Hollister and Patterson avenues has distributed 110,123 doses, and will be open each Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., until July 29.
Walk-ins (and drive-ins) are welcome, and appointments are available but not required.
The vaccine doses are available free to everyone, regardless of health insurance coverage or immigration status.
Lompoc Valley Medical Center will cut back to one vaccination clinic per week starting next week, CEO Steve Popkin said.
Fridays are typically the days of the week with the highest number of appointment requests, he said, so the weekly clinics will be open on Fridays.
“If the demand increases, we will add more vaccination clinic days,” he added.
Vaccinations are available with or without an appointment.
The county Public Health Department has one mass vaccination clinic location open in Santa Maria, at the Fairpark’s Park Plaza Building at 987 S. Thornburg St., on Sundays through Thursdays.
Public Health closed other large clinics as overall demand decreased, but is managing smaller, pop-up clinics throughout the county to reach people who have not been able to get vaccinated yet.
The goal is to make the shots more accessible and convenient for people, and offer them in places where people feel comfortable, Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso said.
The COVID-19 vaccines are widely available at local pharmacies, community clinics, and other providers.
Visit the county website, at https://publichealthsbc.org/vaccine/, or the statewide myturn.ca.gov site to find locations and operating hours near you.
Public health officials expect the vaccines to be approved for use in children under 12 in the coming months, and Do-Reynoso said her department already is preparing for that.
“We are transitioning and want to make sure pediatricians and family practitioners are poised and ready to offer vaccines when it expands to the younger age group, and when it is fully authorized, so it is in the doctors’ offices.”
The county is also making plans for more school-based vaccination clinics in the fall, she said.
Future Public Health-run clinics likely will not be as big as the mass vaccination clinics of the spring, consistently serving more than 1,000 people per day, but might be bigger then the so-called mobile clinics, which typically vaccinate fewer than 300 people at a one-day site.
“We know how to do large clinics, we know how to do medium clinics, so we are well-equipped either way,” she said.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.