San Benito County residents between the ages of 5-11, 19-24 and 25-34 have the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates, according to the county.
While the rest of the age groups have an average vaccination rate of 81%, 39% of the 5-11 age group, 64% of the 19-24 age group and 66% of the 25-34 age group are fully vaccinated. The county’s vaccination rate stands at 73.6% of eligible residents 5 years and older.
Full vaccination is considered to be two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or one dose of Johnson and Johnson. In addition, 4,115 residents are partially vaccinated.
San Benito County Health Officer Dr. George Guellert told the San Benito County Board of Supervisors on March 8 the county is focusing its outreach efforts on residents in the 19-34 age group through social media. The presentation stated the county has seen “substantial increases in vaccine uptake within the 5-11 age group.”
According to the county data, residents age 39 and below account for 11.6% of the 396 hospitalizations. The group also accounts for 3% of the 96 COVID-related deaths. Unvaccinated residents account for the majority of COVID hospitalizations (354) and deaths (89) in the county.
“Most of our deaths have been among the individuals who also had chronic diseases that predispose to worst course of disease if infected with the virus,” Gellert said.
Gellert also said the current case rate per 100,000 dropped from 225.1 on Jan. 18 to 23.2 as of Feb. 28. During that period there were 2,202 reported cases in the county, an average of 53.7 cases per day.
Given the drop in daily cases in California, the state on March 1 lifted its mandate for indoor masking regardless of vaccination status. The state has said that starting March 11 it will no longer require masking in K-12 schools and child care settings.
Nonetheless, the California Department of Public Health maintains its recommendation to continue masking in these settings.
Masking is still required in what the state considers high-risk areas such as hospitals, jails, homeless shelters and public transportation. Private businesses can also require masking.
Testing
The county has two OptumServe COVID-19 testing sites at these locations:
930 Sunset Street in Hollister from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays; and at Brigantino Park, 2100 San Juan Road in Hollister from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. The Brigantino Park site will be open through May.
Health and Human Services Agency Director Tracey Belton recommended the public to not use the address when searching for Brigantino Park because some directions are sending residents to the wrong location.
She also said starting March 13 the hours at the Sunset Street location will change to 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Belton said that as testing needs decrease, the goal is to close the fixed site and have the mobile testing site travel to different locations within the county.
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