Gov. Newsom Announces Improvements to State Vaccination Plan
Improvements include MyTurn.ca.gov website for notice on vaccine availability
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced yesterday a series of improvements to the state’s vaccination plan — including steps designed to make it easier for people to know both when they are eligible for vaccination and how to make an appointment.
For example, the state has developed a new website (myturn.ca.gov) that will enable residents to determine their eligibility to be vaccinated and to sign up to be notified when they do become eligible, so they can then schedule an appointment. The new site also provides a mechanism to easily track vaccination data and enables providers to automatically share data on vaccines received and administered with the state.
The site is currently being tested in Los Angeles and San Diego counties and is expected to be available for San Bernardino County residents in early February. San Bernardino County residents aged 65 and up also have a local , additional option to register themselves on the County’s COVID-19 vaccine page (https://sbcovid19.com/vaccine/65plus/#load) to receive email or text notifications for updates on vaccination opportunities.
The state is also working to transition future phases of the vaccination rollout to age-based eligibility, ensuring vaccine goes to disproportionately impacted communities. Age-based phases will not occur until after the current Phase of persons aged 65 and over, health care workers, and certain essential workers).
County waiting for more doses
“While we welcome any steps from the state to improve the vaccine distribution process, our greatest need is simply to obtain more doses,” said San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman. “Thus far we have received a total of 152,600 doses and have concentrated on getting them into the arms of eligible residents.”
Hagman noted that the County has made excellent progress on its efforts to vaccinate healthcare workers and long-term care residents, and is now concentrating on reaching first responders as well as residents aged 65 and older.
“We’re on track to vaccinate more than 21,000 San Bernardino County residents this week alone, and will be able to expand that pace as we receive additional supplies,” said Hagman.
 County Urges Patience; Vaccine Doses Still in Short Supply
If you are trying to make a vaccine appointment for yourself or a family member 65 and older, please be patient as there is currently a high demand. Appointments are limited and based upon availability of doses provided to the County. Be sure to check out appointment availability across all four vaccine registration options (public health sites, hospitals, pharmacies and physician practice partners).
We encourage you to sign up for notifications at sbcovid19.com/vaccine and check back daily regarding availability. Vaccine doses are coming in weekly, and state and deferral officials are confident the numbers of available doses will increase steadily over the next several weeks.
County Bolsters COVID-19 Information Resources
San Bernardino County has augmented the array of information tools available for residents seeking to stay abreast of COVID-19 status and the County’s various efforts to combat it.
The County’s information hotline (909-387-3911) has extended its hours and is now operating from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and its COVID-19 website, which is regularly updated with answers to frequently asked questions, has also been expanded with pages devoted exclusively to vaccination status.
In addition, the weekly County Update is now being published twice a week (Tuesday and Thursdays) to ensure residents can stay up-to-date on news and information relating to the pandemic and the County’s response to it.
“We believe keeping our residents informed with accurate, up-to-date information is one of our core responsibilities,” said Chairman Hagman. “So we are taking steps to make it as easy as possible for people to get the information they need. This is especially important as we continue implementing our roll-out of vaccines throughout the County.”
 County is Training Workers for Expansion of Vaccination Locations
To ensure its ability to effectively administer resident vaccinations and accurately transmit the resulting data to the California Department of Health (CDPH) database, the County has been conducting training and evaluation drills for the growing number of Medical Points of Dispensing (MPOD).
This video from the latest training session shares the details behind the exercise. Participants were designated a variety of roles, such as “players,” “controllers,” “simulators,” and “actors”; non-participatory roles included “evaluators” and “observers.”
“The MPOD exercises are a critical component to build our readiness and capacity to vaccinate more and more of our County residents,” said County Director of Public Health Corwin Porter. “It is especially important given we will soon be opening up MPODs and vaccination supersites in the coming weeks.”
State ‘Blueprint’ Webpage Shares What’s Open in Purple Tier
With the Stay-at-Home orders lifted, and San Bernardino County again in the Purple Tier, restaurants can offer outdoor dining and other businesses can open with modifications.
Residents are invited to visit the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy webpage to better understand the tiers and the business restrictions. The site offers a tool where you can enter the specific county and business/activity to see the current status.
Latest Stats
268,542 Confirmed Cases (up 0.9% from the previous day)
1,719 Deaths (up 2.4% from the previous day)
2,332,393 Tests (up 0% from the previous day)
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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