[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.
Here’s What We Know
» Santa Barbara County is issuing a new health officer order Wednesday that will mandate masks indoors, in public places, even if you’re fully vaccinated. The order is to take effect Friday, according to the Public Health Department.
» There have been 534 new cases reported in Santa Barbara County over the last seven days, averaging just over 76 new cases per day, according to data tracking done by Noozhawk.
» The number of first-dose COVID-19 vaccinations has been rising in Santa Barbara County over the past two weeks, according to California Department of Public Health records. That trend has been seen statewide.
» County public health officials last week said the region would be in the most-restrictive purple tier if the state’s COVID-19 reopening framework was still in effect. That indicates the community has “widespread” coronavirus transmission.
» The University of California and California State University systems are mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for students, faculty and staff at campuses before the start of the 2021-2022 school year, including for UC Santa Barbara.
» Old Spanish Days organizers announced Tuesday that Wednesday’s Fiesta Pequeña event at the Santa Barbara Mission was closed to the public, and the live broadcast was canceled. Noches de Ronda performances planned for the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden also have been canceled, according to organizers. The annual festival had previously canceled its parades and mercados.
COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker
As of Tuesday, more than 62% of the county’s eligible population (12 and older) was fully vaccinated, and nearly 53% of the county’s entire population (all ages) was fully vaccinated, according to the Public Health Department.
The department has reported administering more than 489,600 doses as of this week.
First-dose vaccine doses administered in the county dropped to 1,868 for the week ending July 13, according to state data, but then rose to 2,249 for the week ending July 20 and 2,557 for the week ending July 27.
All California adults became eligible for the shots in mid-April, and the number of vaccine doses administered in Santa Barbara County peaked afterward. The rate has steadily declined each week since.
Nearly 61% of South Coast residents have been fully vaccinated, while more than 45% of North County and about 44% of Mid-County residents have been fully vaccinated, according to the Public Health Department.
Public Health Department director Van Do-Reynoso said Friday that COVID-19 vaccines are “the safe, effective solution to stop this surge in its tracks. We need every eligible member of this community to act and get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
At the time, there were nearly 150,000 vaccine-eligible people who had not been vaccinated in the county.
The shots are available for free at pharmacies, hospital vaccination clinics and other providers throughout the county.
How Long Will Vaccines Offer Protection?
Experts don’t know how long protection lasts for those who are vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“What we do know is that COVID-19 has caused very serious illness and death for a lot of people,” the CDC’s website states. “If you get COVID-19, you also risk giving it to loved ones who may get very sick. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer choice. Experts are working to learn more about both natural immunity and vaccine-induced immunity.”
Public health officials don’t count natural immunity (people who have been infected by the virus and recovered) when they analyze progress toward the goal of community immunity, since they aren’t sure about the strength or duration of protection from it, department director Van Do-Reynoso has said.
Public health officials also don’t know how long immunity protection from the vaccines will last, but clinical trials and real-world research have shown all three vaccines to be effective in preventing infection and serious illness.
“Unvaccinated people should get vaccinated and continue masking until they are fully vaccinated,” the CDC said. “With the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever.”
Three vaccines are authorized for use in the United States: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
They protect against the coronavirus and circulating variants of the virus spreading in the United States, including the more-infectious Delta strain, according to public health and medical officials.
As of Tuesday, at least 463 Santa Barbara County residents have died from the virus.
Santa Barbara County started COVID-19 vaccine distribution last December, with the first shots administered to priority groups like essential workers and people with high-risk medical conditions.
By mid-April, all Californians ages 16 and up were eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Area providers started vaccinating children 12 and older in May, when they became eligible.
Readers have sent us dozens of questions about COVID-19, vaccination, business reopening rules, in-person school, and other 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 county website, publichealthsbc.org/vaccine, or at myturn.ca.gov. Some facilities offer walk-ups as well as appointments.
» There are free COVID-19 testing facilities around the county.
» Find more local pandemic-related information on the Public Health Department website and the county’s COVID-19 recovery page, with resources for business reopening, rental assistance, food assistance and more.
» Click here for Noozhawk’s complete Coronavirus Crisis coverage.
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— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
