Everyone wants to know when they will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine and how they’ll be notified where to go.
So far, people mostly have been eligible through their workplaces, and notified by employers, but that is likely to change once people are qualified based on age.
Santa Barbara County Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso said the county is close to finishing vaccinations for patient-facing health care workers, and retail pharmacies (CVS and Walgreens) are in charge of administering vaccines to staff and residents at long-term care facilities.
The next groups that will be eligible for the vaccine are: people age 65 or older; essential workers at risk of exposure in education and child care; essential workers at risk of exposure in food, agriculture and grocery industries; and essential workers at risk of exposure in emergency services.
There is no information yet on which specific jobs qualify under that phase.
The vaccination distribution plan is dynamic, and it has been changing based on federal, state and local policy decisions.
This week, the state expanded eligibility to 65-plus versus 75-plus for the next phase, but the limited supply of vaccines has not changed.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, there are about 70,000 county residents older than age 65. That is a large population to vaccinate and will not happen all at once.
The county plans to open mass community vaccination clinics sometime this spring with personnel from throughout the local health care system.
“To mass vaccinate our county, it can’t just be us, it has to be everyone,” Do-Reynoso said.
Noozhawk asked for reader questions on the vaccine and received dozens of them. Some will be included in this and other Q&A-type stories, along with questions formed by Noozhawk journalists.
Send us your questions and feedback on the Santa Barbara County COVID-19 vaccine rollout by filling out the Google Form at the end of this story, or email us at news@noozhawk.com.
No. 1 Question From Readers: How Do I Know When and Where I Can Get My Vaccine Shots?
Noozhawk and other local news media will continue to report on the vaccine distribution process, and Santa Barbara County Public Health officials have a vaccine information website with priority groups and an estimated timeline.
Residents can sign up to get county vaccination information via email here (this is not signing up for an appointment), email vaccine@sbcphd.org or call the 2-1-1 call center with questions.
The Public Health Department frequently posts information on its website, at publichealthsbc.org, and on its Instagram, Twitter and Facebook social media pages.
Twice-weekly briefings are streamed live on CSBTV (during Tuesday Board of Supervisors meetings and at 4:30 p.m. on Fridays) and can be watched later on the YouTube page.
Qualified health care workers can get more information and register for appointments through the county website.
They can also make vaccine appointments at six local pharmacies, according to the county:
» Vons Pharmacy at 1046 Coast Village Road, Suite B in Santa Barbara
» Sav-On Pharmacy at 1018 Casitas Pass Road in Carpinteria
» Sav-On Pharmacy at 2320 S. Broadway in Santa Maria
» Sav-On Pharmacy at 1120 E. Clark Ave. in Orcutt
» Sav-On Pharmacy at 1500 North H St. in Lompoc
» Vons Pharmacy at 729 North H St. in Lompoc
Click here for more information on that and appointment registration links. Proof of eligibility is required at the appointments, and anyone who shows up for an appointment who is not from a qualified priority group will be denied a vaccine, according to Sav-On Pharmacy.
Santa Barbara County expects to spend February and March vaccinating these priority groups: people older than age 65, certain essential workers, and people with medical conditions that put them at risk of severe illness from COVID-19.
The Public Health Department anticipates doing mass communitywide vaccinations “sometime this spring,” with widespread outreach campaigns and sites similar to seasonal influenza vaccinations, Do-Reynoso said.
There will probably be drive-thru sites, walk-up sites, appointments through clinics and doctor’s offices, and mobile sites to serve hard-to-reach groups.
Which Medical Conditions Count for Early Vaccination, and Do You Have to Provide Proof?
It is still unclear who will be eligible in terms of underlying conditions, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information about medical conditions that increase the risk of severe COVID-19.
How Vaccine Distribution Works and How to Track How Many Vaccines Have Been Administered
States allocate vaccine doses based on population, Do-Reynoso said, and there is a limited amount the county can request at a time.
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department consults with vaccine providers and places weekly orders for doses.
It keeps some, to vaccinate people directly, and distributes the majority to vaccine providers, including hospitals, clinics, medical groups and doctor’s offices.
“We anticipate that as we receive more doses from the state, and as we have more community providers approved to vaccinate, and as they are capable and ready to vaccinate the eligible population that we will quickly expand the reach in our county,” Do-Reynoso said during a Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.
Public health departments use the terms delivered and distributed for vaccines that have arrived to the providers who are going to actually use them. Vaccinating people (putting shots into arms) is referred to as administering vaccines.
As of Thursday, 30.6 million doses were delivered nationwide, and 11.1 million people have received their first dose, according to the CDC.
The federal partnership with retail pharmacies shows that 4.7 million doses have been delivered for long-term care facilities and that 1.2 million people have received their first dose.
Santa Barbara County added local vaccine data to its community dashboard at sbcdashboard.org, on the main Summary page.
On Thursday, it showed the county has ordered 26,275 doses out of a possible 38,075 and administered 10,212. The county numbers do not differentiate between first doses and second doses, and some health care workers have already received both doses.
The dashboard also shows the county has received more Moderna vaccine doses than Pfizer vaccine doses.
Why Is the Vaccine Distribution Slower Than Expected?
The responsibility for the vaccine rollout has been handed to public health departments and health care providers such as hospitals and community clinics — organizations that have been busy responding to the pandemic for the past 10 months and are currently facing the biggest surge of cases, hospitalizations and deaths that Santa Barbara County has ever seen.
The county has a limited number of doses it can request each week, although that could increase as more vaccines are approved and manufacturing ramps up.
“What I am hopeful about is with the new federal administration taking place as we speak, perhaps that timeline can be sped up with increased vaccines available for mass vaccinations,” Do-Reynoso said. “I think that is the limiting factor at this point — the finite supply of vaccines — and that’s why we have the tier system.”
Supply is a constraint, but so is the infrastructure to actually get vaccines into arms — what Gov. Gavin Newsom and others have been calling “the last mile” of distribution.
Santa Barbara County hasn’t even been requesting its full allotment of doses each week, Do-Reynoso told Noozhawk. The data dashboard shows the county has ordered 68% of its allotment through the state.
Do-Reynoso said most vaccine providers were waiting until the communities they serve are eligible to get it.
“The first batch was for acute hospitals and they were not interested, or they were constrained I should say, in getting all that we had. They said, ‘Give us this much,’ and built their own infrastructure, because they knew on a weekly basis we can order more,” Do-Reynoso said. “Because of the tiering system, we really did not draw down all that we could. Now that it’s 65-plus, I anticipate (Thursday) we’re going to draw down all of our allocation.
“We have 49 approved providers, and a lot of them were not open to getting the allocations because it was restricted. They didn’t want to vaccinate those outside of their own network, and some were very, very supportive. Sansum Clinic has been a great partner to us, as has Cottage and Lompoc, but the majority want to wait until their patient population was eligible, so we anticipate speeding through what we’ve been allocated.”
Public health officials have said they have the goal of administering 1,000 doses a day by early February.
“What we order (Thursday) won’t be into the arms until next week,” she told Noozhawk. “It’s kind of clunky right now, but for the best we are aiming at finishing our Phase 1a and really hoping to be able to vaccinate the 65-plus beginning next week, or make arrangements for appointments.”
Is the County Distributing All Vaccines as They’re Delivered, or Saving Some for Second Doses?
“We are not holding back. The state is telling us don’t hold back,” Do-Reynoso said.
That means the county will depend on future deliveries to give people their second doses. Do-Reynoso said the state and federal governments are confident there will be a reliable supply chain for vaccines, but it still makes her nervous.
“I do have some worries because I’m a hoarder; I always like to save,” she said. “I actually did hoard some vaccines for a provider who asked for permission to save some for second doses, and I said sure. Well, I was reminded by CDPH and my team that we need to get them out and trust in the system.”
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which the FDA approved for emergency use, are two-dose vaccines with the second shot given three to four weeks after the first one. The effectiveness shown in clinical trials depends on both doses given on the approved schedule.
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— 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.