 County Moving into Tier 3 of Phase 1A
Beginning today, the County of San Bernardino is moving into Tier 3 of Phase 1A of its vaccination roadmap, which means doses will be distributed to those working at specialty clinics, laboratories, dental and oral health clinics, and pharmacy staff.
- The County has received 75,900 first doses and 43,625 second doses (total of 119,525)
- By the end of the week, more than 65,710 first doses will have been administered or scheduled to be administered
- Second doses began to be administered last week
In the past week, successful vaccination kicked off with individuals in Tier 2 of Phase 1A (see accompanying article), which includes caregivers with In Home Support Services (IHSS), public and community health centers, urgent care facilities and other health care personnel. To date, just over 10,000 doses have been distributed to these clinics and facilities.
The County is expecting to complete distribution and allocation for all Phase 1A health care workers before the end of January. In addition to County directed vaccinations, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is coordinating the distribution of vaccines to skilled nursing and assisted living facilities through partnerships with Walgreens and CVS. The County does not have access to these numbers.
If progress and supplies remain on track, the County can soon move into Phase 1B, Tier 1, which includes school employees, law enforcement officers and firefighters, and food supply-chain workers, including grocery store employees. In addition, state officials today announced an expansion of vaccination eligibility guidelines, allowing all residents 65 and older to more quickly qualify for COVID-19 vaccinations. This will be part of the Phase 1B rollout and San Bernardino County will release further information on when and how this will be implemented when it becomes available.
To learn more about the vaccine roadmap and to read Frequently Asked Questions, visit the County’s vaccine webpage.
Thousands of Qualified Healthcare Workers Being Vaccinated Daily
County opens vaccination sites; actively training nurses
The County began providing COVID-19 vaccination doses to health care professionals in Tier 2 of Phase 1A on January 6, and the process has been efficient. Thousands of health care professionals in Tier 2 – which includes home health workers and support services, public health officials, healthcare workers in correctional facilities, and others -- have been getting vaccinated daily.
“We began this current phase providing initial vaccine doses to 300 individuals, and have continued to expand the number of people receiving shots,” said Corwin Porter, Director of Public Health. “By last Friday more than 2,760 people had been given the vaccine, and that number is increasing every day.”
Corwin noted that since the County began receiving the vaccine on December 16, it has distributed over 75,000 doses to its various facilities and community partners. That is more than most other counties in the state.
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To ensure it has the personnel needed to continue delivering the vaccines as quickly and as efficiently as possible, the County Public Health Department is actively training nurses — and even student nurses — on vaccination procedures. |
"We are increasing the number of individuals able to administer the vaccine and extending hours at County vaccination centers, while at the same time working closely with our various community partners to keep this effort moving smoothly,” said County Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman. “Our countywide public health team is continually learning and improving our operational procedures, and we’re grateful for the collaboration. The sooner we get our community vaccinated, the sooner we can reopen schools and businesses.”
Hagman also emphasized the County’s commitment to taking full advantage of its allotment of vaccines. “We’re not sitting on any vaccines; we’re being extremely careful to ensure we don’t waste a single dose.”
There currently are six County-run vaccination sites scheduling appointments for qualified individuals:
- ARMC Family Health Centers in San Bernardino and Rialto
- Hesperia Health Center
- Ontario Health Center
- San Bernardino Health Center
- County Human Resources Test Center (County employees only)
For more information on the County’s vaccination program, including the multi-phased allocation schedule proposed by the California Department of Public Health, please visit the vaccine page of the County COVID-19 website.
County Public Health Officials Discuss – and Receive – Vaccine
San Bernardino County Public Health Director Corwin Porter and Public Health Officer Dr. Michael Sequeira both recieived the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as part of Tier 2 (Phase 1A) and shared their experience and thoughts in this short video.
“It was painless and I barely felt the needle going in,” said Porter. “I would recommend the vaccine for everyone.”
County Residents Encouraged to use Coronavirus Quarantine and Isolation Calculator
A Quarantine and Isolation Calculator, a new enhancement to the County COVID-19 website, enables people to determine how long they should self-isolate after testing positive for the disease, being sick with COVID-19, or being exposed to someone with COVID-19.
By using this convenient tool, anyone can determine the date when his or her isolation may end after entering the date when either 1) symptoms first manifested; 2) a specimen was collected (i.e., a test was conducted); or 3) the person was potentially exposed to the disease.
The tool offers four different calculation options:
- For those who have tested positive and have symptoms of COVID-19;
- For those who have tested positive but manifest no symptoms of the disease;
- For those who have been in close contact with an infected individual but show no symptoms;
- For those who previously tested positive (by calculating their susceptibility to reinfection).
Sheriff Update on Inmates and Employees Testing Positive for COVID
A total of 881 County jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. Many of the inmates are only experiencing minor symptoms of the virus. The infected inmates are in isolation, being monitored around the clock, and are being provided with medical treatment. A total of 830 inmates have recovered from the illness.
A total of 885 department employees have tested positive for COVID-19 and are self-isolating at home; 754 employees have recovered from the virus. Other employees are expected to return to work in the next few weeks. It is unknown when or where the employees were infected with the virus. The department continues to encourage all department members to heed the warnings of health officials.
Latest Stats
234,871 Confirmed Cases (up 1.3% from the previous day)
1,551 Deaths (up 0.3% from the previous day)
1,893,665 Tests (up 1.2% from the previous day)
Current Southern California ICU Capacity: 0% (Goal to lift State Stay-at-Home Order: 15%)
For more statistics from the COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard, click the desktop or mobile
tab on the County’s sbcovid19.com website.
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