[Editor’s note: Noozhawk’s weekly COVID-19 email newsletter is delivered to subscribers on Wednesdays. You can sign up here. We are republishing the newsletters on the website so more readers have access to them.]
Welcome to Noozhawk’s Weekly COVID-19 Briefing.
I’m Noozhawk staff writer Serena Guentz with the latest COVID-19 news in Santa Barbara County.
This newsletter is a way for Noozhawk readers to get important updates in one place.
It is emailed out every Wednesday, for free, to everyone who subscribes.
Here’s What We Know
- For the week ending Dec. 15, Santa Barbara County’s weekly average of PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 8.3%, according to the county Public Health Department.
- In the week ending Dec. 12, public health officials reported 382 COVID-19 cases and one death. As of Dec. 13, the seven-day testing positivity rate was 10%.
- On Monday, there were 40 coronavirus-positive people hospitalized in the county, with five of them in intensive-care units. This includes patients who came in to hospitals for something other than COVID-19 and tested positive while there.
- Santa Barbara County and most of the United States has “high” community transmission of COVID-19 right now, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The county has a “low” COVID-19 community level, which factors in hospitalization and death rates, in addition to the number of new positive cases.
- Just in time for holiday gatherings, the federal government and the U.S. Postal Service are again offering free at-home COVID-19 test kits by mail for each household. Orders can be placed online at covid.gov/tests or usps.com/testkits.
- “Before you throw out ‘expired tests, check to see if your COVID-19 tests’ expiration dates have been extended,” the agencies advise.
Booster Vaccination, Outreach Programs
Four local health agencies received federal grant funding aimed at increasing the bivalent booster vaccination rate.
Less than 20% of eligible Santa Barbara County residents have received the booster shots, which became available in September and are available for everyone 6 months and older.
Nearly 70% of residents are fully vaccinated, having received their primary series of COVID-19 vaccine shots.
Funding was awarded to the Community Health Centers of the Central Coast, Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, and American Indian Health & Services.
Read more about the grants here.
COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots are available for free at health-care providers throughout the county.
You can find provider locations and links to make appointments at https://www.vaccines.gov/search/.
COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker
Nearly 70% of Santa Barbara County residents have completed the primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine and 59.3% of residents have also received a booster dose. About 20.5% of county residents have received the bivalent booster for COVID-19.
According to the California Department of Public Health, the county’s vaccination rates are just slightly lower than the statewide rates, with 72.4% of California residents having completed the primary vaccine series and 59.3% also boosted statewide.
As of Dec. 16, Santa Barbara County providers have administered a total of 941,032 doses of the vaccine.
Got Questions?
Readers have sent us dozens of questions about pandemic-related issues. Please send yours to news@noozhawk.com and we’ll try to include them in future newsletters and Noozhawk Q&As.
Reader Resources
- Find a COVID-19 vaccine provider near you on the Vaccine Finder search function of https://www.vaccines.gov/search/. You can search for providers by location and by specific vaccine available (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Novavax and Johnson & Johnson). You can also find providers on the county website, publichealthsbc.org/vaccine, or at myturn.ca.gov. Some facilities offer walk-ups as well as appointments.
- Text your ZIP code to GETVAX (438829) for a list of vaccine providers in English, or text your ZIP code to VACUNA (822862) for a list in Spanish.
- There are free COVID-19 testing facilities around the county.
- Find more local pandemic-related information on the Public Health Department website.
- Click here for Noozhawk’s complete Coronavirus Crisis coverage.
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