COVID Update – January 22, 2021

01/23/2021

Silicon Valley Asian American News

By DDTV

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COVID-19 Cases in Santa Clara County

This past week, the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department reported 153 more individuals in the county who contracted COVID-19 have lost their lives. This brings the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the county to 1,181. As of Friday, January 22^nd, the total case count had reached 96,340, and the 7 day rolling average of new cases (based on specimen collection date) was at 1,127 cases per day.

As of Friday, there were 585 COVID positive patients hospitalized in Santa Clara County (down from 638 the prior week and 708 the week before that). Of these hospitalizations, 138 were in the ICU. COVID positive patients now occupy 39% of all ICU beds, and just 12% of beds are currently available. These ICU bed capacity numbers already factor in surge beds that are staffed. More data can be found through the Public Health Department’s Data Dashboards.

Third Mass Vaccination Site Launched and Updates on County Vaccination Efforts

The COVID-19 vaccine program continued its rollout this week. County officials held a virtual press conference and issued a release on Friday to announce the County had partnered with the City of Mountain View to open a new high volume COVID-19 vaccination site at the Mountain View Community Center. With support from City staff, the County Health System will operate the appointment-only vaccination site at the Mountain View Community Center at 201 S. Rengstorff Avenue in Mountain View. The new site is the third mass vaccination site launched by the County and will provide access for up to 1,000 people per weekday, and increases our capacity to reach community members who need access to the vaccine. The County’s other mass vaccinations sites are located in San Jose at Berger Drive and the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.

The County’s Health System, working closely with partners, continues to lead the way – to date, more than 60,000 doses of vaccine have been administered by the County to eligible community members. County sites continue to vaccinate eligible healthcare workers in Phase 1A, as well as individuals over age of 75. Although the State of California has authorized all healthcare systems statewide to vaccinate any persons age 65 and older, in addition to continuing vaccinations for healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities, most healthcare systems in our County are currently offering vaccination only to people age 75 and older at this time due to limited vaccine supply.

The County does not determine vaccine eligibility. Following the State’s priority phases and tiers, each healthcare system decides what categories of patients they have the capacity to vaccinate at any given time. Our understanding of the current landscape of other providers in our community is that: Stanford is offering vaccinations to eligible healthcare personnel and individuals 65 or older; Kaiser, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and El Camino Health are offering vaccination to healthcare personnel and those 75 and older; and Regional Medical Center and Good Samaritan are only offering vaccinations to healthcare personnel. Information on how to book a vaccination appointment through the County system or your healthcare provider is available on the County’s COVID-19 vaccine website: www.sccfreevax.org.

Last week, the County launched a new COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard which publishes the number of vaccine doses received and administered by vaccine providers in Santa Clara County. The dashboard will continue to be revised and expanded as the County gets more refined data from providers, and the dashboard can be accessed online at: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/dashboard-vaccine.aspx.

Providers to Resume Administration of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Lot

Following rigorous review by safety regulators, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a statement Wednesday night advising vaccine providers in California “that they can immediately resume the administration of lot 41L20A of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine”, which was temporarily paused on Sunday due to possible allergic reactions.” CDPH officials convened the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup and worked with the CDC, FDA, the County of San Diego Department of Public Health, and Moderna to investigate the possible allergic reactions, which had been reported in San Diego County. The regulators and public health officials determined that there was no scientific basis to continue the pause on administering doses from this particular lot of Moderna vaccine. See the County’s January 21, 2021 release for more information.

Board of Supervisors to Hear COVID-19 Updates on January 26^th

At 1pm on Tuesday, January 26, the Board of Supervisors will hear a report from the Public Health Officer and Administration related to the current status of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County. Click here to view the full meeting agenda and related materials, and the webcast of the meeting will be available here at the start of the meeting. Residents can join online here.

COVID-19 Webinar for Youth Sports and Programs Serving Children and Youth

The Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE), in partnership with the County Public Health Department, is hosting a webinar training on Thursday, January 28^th, 11:30am – 1:00 pm. This training will clarify the key points of the County’s Mandatory Directive for Programs Serving Children and Youth along with the State’s COVID-19 Interim Guidance for Youth Sports and discuss how to operate youth sports in a way that is safe for children and staff. As part of this webinar, organizations will be asked to select a COVID-19 Designee to be a point of contact, and participants will learn how to report a case of COVID-19 using the Education Sector Portal and the Public Health Department’s role when a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 is present. Register in advance for the meeting at https://bit.ly/SCCATHLETICS.

County COVID Testing Locations

The community testing program operated by Santa Clara Valley Medical Center continues to offer extensive drop-in and appointment-based COVID-19 testing at several locations across the county. Residents can book an appointment for the Fairgrounds or the various rotating city sites in Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish, or English. Visit www.sccfreetest.org to search for an available site by City or Date, or to see the complete list of available County testing sites.

Additional Community-Based and State-Operated Testing Options

Roots Community Health Center and Gardner Health Services continue to organize free, community-based drop-in COVID-19 testing events every Wednesday. Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) provides similar community-based testing every Friday at their Story Road site. No appointments are necessary, and all individuals are served regardless of insurance or immigration status.

Roots Community Health Center: Antioch Baptist Church parking lot, 268 E. Julian St, San José, 95112. COVID-19 testing offered Wednesday from 10am to 3pm. For more information or to pre-register see here or call 408-490-4710.
Gardner Health Services: Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Avenue, San José, 95116. Testing offered Wednesday from 1pm to 7pm. For more information, call 408-457-7100.
AACI Health Center: Story Road Clinic: 749 Story Rd, #50, San Jose CA 95122. Testing offered Friday from 9am-12pm. For more information, call 408-975-2763.

In addition, there are several testing sites now operated OptumServe, a State contractor. The drive through sites previously run by Verily’s Project Baseline at Independence and Mount Pleasant High Schools have been transferred to OptumServe. These sites are free but require appointments. Visit here or call (888) 634-1123 to schedule an appointment:

Independence High School (drive through): 617 N. Jackson Ave., San José. Testing offered Sunday through Friday from 7am to 7pm.
Mount Pleasant High School (drive through): 1750 S. White Road, San José. Testing offered Monday through Saturday from 7am to 7pm.
Gilroy Civic Center: 7351 Church St., Gilroy. Testing offered Friday through Tuesday from 7am to 7pm.
Gavilan College: Social Science Building, 5055 Santa Teresa Blvd, Gilroy CA 95020. Testing offered Tuesday through Thursday from 7 am to 7 pm
Grange in Morgan Hill: 40 E 4th Street, Morgan Hill CA 95037. Testing offered Friday from 7 am to 7 pm.
Valley Water (Mobile Van): 5750 Almaden Expressway, San Jose CA 95118. Testing offered Wednesday and Thursday from 7 am to 7 pm
James Lick High School: 2951 Alum Rock Ave., San José. Testing offered Tuesday through Saturday from 7am to 7pm.