 County’s Unvaccinated Residents at Higher Risk of Death and Hospitalization
Unvaccinated residents in San Bernardino County are eight times more likely to get COVID-19 and 32 times more likely to die from the disease than residents who are fully vaccinated, according to County data from February 1 to today.
“I urge people who are sitting on the fence or who have not had a chance to get vaccinated to walk up to one of our vaccination sites as soon as possible or make an appointment and come in and get your shot,” said San Bernardino County Health Officer Michael Sequeira, M.D. “I don’t want anyone to end up hospitalized with severe illness or to die when we have a vaccine now fully approved by the FDA that offers protection for you and those around you.”
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FDA Approval
Now that the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for people ages 16 and older, people who were waiting for that milestone to be reached can now get vaccinated by finding a location at sbcovid19.com and making an appointment or walking up to a County vaccination clinic. The Pfizer vaccine is now being marketed under the name Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee).
Equity Goal Achieved
This week, the County’s multi-department vaccination team reached a significant equity goal by administering vaccines to 100,000 people in neighborhoods that are considered the by the State of California to be the most at risk. Operation NXT 100,000 was launched by County departments in July to focus on engaging and vaccinating the next 100,000 residents located in Quartile 1 of the state’s Healthy Places Index.
Partnerships were developed with city leaders, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, schools and the state to develop equity-focused messaging and relationships to reach different communities.
More than 150 strategic vaccination events were held and planned in partnership with community-based activities, and the County’s health ambassadors provided education about the vaccine to community groups and organizations.
Because of those efforts, 53.4 percent, or 497,734 of residents in these communities are now vaccinated compared with 394,946 less than a month ago.
“We reached people by telephone to assist with scheduling vaccination appointments and got information from them to understand what was driving their vaccine hesitancy,” said San Bernardino County Public Health Director Josh Dugas. “Our data team developed an interactive map to assist with identifying areas of high case rates, high variant rates, low vaccination rates and overall demographic data. We are very proud to have accomplished this important goal.”
Booster Doses
The next chapter for the County’s vaccination effort is providing third-dose vaccines to immunocompromised people and after Sept. 20, providing booster shots for all Americans eight months following their second dose of mRNA vaccines Pfizer and Moderna.
The criteria for the immune-compromised was determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and includes people who have:
• Been receiving active cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood
• Received an organ transplant and are taking medicine to suppress the immune system
• Received a stem cell transplant within the last two years or are taking medicine to suppress the immune system
• Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
• Advanced or untreated HIV infection
• Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that may suppress your immune response
If you are an immune-compromised person and want to make an appointment for a third-dose vaccine, visit sbcovid19.com. You do not need to provide medical proof of your condition, but will be asked to fill out a self-attestation form.
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 Community Group Gets Creative to Battle Vaccine Hesitancy
El Sol Neighborhood Educational Center (El Sol) has found a successful blueprint to tackle vaccine hesitancy.
They recently produced and performed an interactive play and a comic book series. El Sol’s community-led production features a hero named Captain Empath who fights against the COVID-19 virus by educating and motivating community members to protect themselves by getting vaccinated.
Let’s join Captain Empath in this fight! As of August 26, 53% of our Hispanic (ages 12+) community, 65.5% of our Black/African American (ages 12+) community, and 62% of our white non-Hispanic (ages 12+) community are yet to be vaccinated. To learn more about vaccination rates in your city, please visit our award-winning vaccine dashboard at sbcovid19.com and select Data Dashboard.
For more Captain Empath resources visit: sbcovid19.com/schools
All resources and a video of El Sol’s skit can be found at: https://www.elsolnec.org/news-and-media/covid-19-response/
 Healthcare Providers: How You Can Become a COVID-19 Vaccine Provider
Healthcare providers who want to start administering COVID-19 vaccines are encouraged to enroll in the California COVID-19 Vaccination Program.
Enrollment is currently focused on small physician practices who routinely vaccinate their patients as well as providers that are prioritized for vaccine allocation by local health departments. Providers who do not routinely vaccinate may contact the COVID Call Center about eligibility.
Providers must have an active license in California to enroll.
The California Medical Association is providing onboarding support to pediatric providers, individual practitioners and small group practices and will work directly with you to discuss the steps necessary for you to apply for eligibility to receive and administer COVID-19 vaccines within your scope of practice.
Also, find out about the CalVaxGrant which offers up to $55,000 to help with expenses such as staffing, technology, supplies/equipment, and administrative overhead. The last day to submit an application for the CalVaxGrant program is September 10, 2021.
Visit the state’s enrollment site to get started.
 Celebrate National Recovery Month with an Art Show, Virtual Speakers and a Poetry Contest
The Department of Behavioral Health is celebrating National Recovery Month with a number of events, starting with a virtual art show. Submit a photo of your artwork or original poem that celebrates recovery. It may be featured on the Recovery in Color virtual art gallery and on Behavioral Health’s social media channels.
Recovery Happens 2021, a virtual online event, takes place at 11 am. on Sept. 18 to celebrate individuals in recovery, and the work of local treatment providers. Powerful testimony from guest speakers about their own personal recovery include Cesar Garcia, actor, producer and writer, and Tony Hoffman, former BMX Elite Pro and motivational speaker. To RSVP, visit https://eventsolutions.com/recovery-happens-2021/
In conjunction with the Department of Behavioral Health, San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) will host poetry workshops. Participants will have the opportunity to write a poem based on their experiences with recovery or by exploring the purpose and themes of National Recovery Month. Workshops about crafting a poem will take place Sept. 20 and 21 from 4-5 p.m. at SBVC Classroom Business 100. Workshops about performing a poem will be Sept. 27 and 28 from 4 to 5 p.m. at SBVC Auditorium. The workshops are free to attend.
Centered around National Recovery Month, the Poetry Reading event will feature Kat Magill, author, poet and producer, as well as special readings by those who participated in the workshops and by other local poets. The event is free to attend on Sept. 30 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in SBVC Auditorium. View the event flyer.
Clear the Shelters and Make a Lifetime Furry Friend
San Bernardino County Animal Care and Control is participating in NBC 4 and Telemundo’s Clear the Shelters campaign.
More than 70 city and county shelters as well as nonprofit rescue organizations are participating in the event, which ends Sept. 19. Many of the shelters are offering a range of discounted adoption fees and incentives throughout the month-long campaign.
There are reduced adoption fees of $25 for dogs and $17 for cats and this includes spay or neuter, microchip, and most vaccines.
Animals are available for adoption from San Bernardino County Animal Shelters in Devore and Big Bear can be viewed at Animalcare.sbcounty.gov
Watch a video about the campaign.
 Next Redistricting Commission Meeting an Evening Event in Rialto
The Rialto Council Chambers is the next meeting site for the Advisory Redistricting Commission, where the public can continue to help map out the future of San Bernardino County’s supervisorial districts.
The Sept. 2 meeting will be the commission’s first evening meeting, beginning at 6 p.m. at 150 S. Palm Ave. in Rialto, and will be livestreamed from the County’s redistricting website sbcountyredistricting.com.
Every 10 years, the County uses the newest U.S. Census data to redraw the boundaries of each of the five Board of Supervisors districts to ensure each has essentially has the same number of residents, preserves communities of interest such as cities as much as possible, and complies with the Voting Rights Act. The County’s redistricting website offers a wealth of information on the process and schedule as well as contact information and a tool that allows anyone to create and submit their own map of the county’s new supervisorial districts.
Information on upcoming meetings can be found on the redistricting website’s calendar page. All meetings can be viewed from the County’s redistricting website and video recordings of past meetings can be viewed on the redistricting website’s past meetings page.
Sign up for email updates on county redistricting and receive notices about upcoming meetings and other opportunities to participate.
 New Short-Term Rental Complaint Hotline Available
With the increase in short-term rentals in areas of our county, many have experienced some of the secondary impacts. Trash left outside, cars blocking the driveway, late-night music – it’s all a nuisance and it’s also a code enforcement violation.
Those who know of short-term rentals creating a nuisance or operating illegally can call the new complaint line toll-free at 1-800-205-9417. This replaces the County’s prior Short-Term Rental hotline and comes with new and improved tools.
San Bernardino County has integrated its short-term rental complaint system with a system that tracks unpermitted short-term rentals in the unincorporated areas. This gives the County an edge in addressing complaints quickly and effectively while also cracking down on illegal rentals.
San Bernardino County Code Enforcement opened the 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week-hotline with the help of Deckard Technologies. The vendor is also providing the County with a new software application, Rentalscape, which identifies unpermitted short-term rental properties in the unincorporated areas of the county allows Code Enforcement to quickly identify unpermitted short-term rentals and to track complaints against all short-term rentals.
The new hotline and the Rentalscape software will integrate and work together to register complaints from the public, leading to more efficient enforcement of unpermitted short-term rental operators.
San Bernardino County strives to ensure that short-term rentals are licensed and operated in strict accordance with County ordinances so that they aren’t a nuisance to county residents. We want to make sure San Bernardino County is always a great place to live as well as a great place to visit.
“We want short-term rental operators to be successful with their operations, but we also want our neighborhoods to be safe and clean,” said Curt Hagman, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “We believe this new software and hotline will offer better customer services for these types of complaints.”
Latest Stats
326,982 Confirmed Cases (up 0.2% from the previous day)
4,908 Deaths (up 0.1% from the previous day)
3,722,308 Tests (up 0.4% 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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