Information provided by County of San Benito.
In a statement on Jan. 10, the San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency -Public Health Services (HHSA-PHS) said it will continue to follow the direction of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in delivering the vaccine through phases and tiers as rapidly as possible to the residents of the county.
Limited vaccine supplies are prioritized for those most at risk of severe illness and frontline medical workers. CDPH and federal health authorities have created tiers for delivering COVID-19 vaccine to individuals who treat COVID-19 and other acutely ill patients, or who serve in other roles that are critical to maintaining urgent health care delivery in communities.
This is essential in order to avoid a severe breakdown in the functioning of hospital, emergency response and treatment services in communities, including San Benito County, according to the release.
HHSA-PHS and its vaccine delivery partners in San Benito County are committed to ensuring that vaccine does not remain unused anywhere in the county, that vaccine doses are not wasted, and that as many individuals as possible are vaccinated as quickly as possible using the available vaccine supply by working together to administer COVID-19 vaccines to individuals in all tiers of Phase 1A, according to the release.
The release also states that HHSA-PHS anticipates that strategies for accelerating vaccine distribution and delivery may change in the coming weeks.
“County residents can rest assured that Public Health Services will work actively with both state and federal authorities to deliver vaccine as rapidly as possible to as many residents as possible.” the release states. “Nonetheless, because vaccine supply and manufacturing capacity are limited, most county residents who do not have a risk factor that increases their likelihood of death from COVID-19 if infected – individuals who are not elderly or not affected by a chronic health condition – will likely receive the vaccine in Spring 2021.”
Until vaccine supplies are widely available, the releases urges residents to protect themselves and their loved ones from infection by continuing to use personal protection measures of:
(1) masking outdoors and indoors when close to other people;
(2) staying at home unless going out is truly necessary or maintains social isolation such as for exercise;
(3) avoiding social gatherings of any kind, even with extended family members;
(4) social distancing from other individuals outside your immediate family and
(5) washing hands frequently.
“These measures will ensure that all residents will remain healthy until everyone in the county can be vaccinated,” according to the release. “San Benito County public health leadership will continue to communicate and advise residents regarding changes in vaccine availability or vaccine delivery directives as soon as they are received. Please refer to the https://hhsa.cosb.us/covid-19-