A cautiously optimistic view of the Covid-19 vaccination situation.

A cautiously optimistic view of the Covid-19 vaccination situation.

Good afternoon.

This is Pam Marino, feeling cautiously optimistic about the Covid-19 vaccination situation as I look toward the weeks to come. 

I know it’s frustrating at the moment. Some of you have emailed me sharing your challenges in finding an appointment. I hope the guide we published in today’s print edition and online helps.

On to the good news. Delays in shipments due to freezing temperatures in the country aside, California is due to get 23-percent more doses shipped from the federal government in the next couple of weeks, based on a White House announcement on Tuesday.

Next week, California is scheduled to receive 382,590 each of the first and second doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It’s also set to receive 380,300 doses each, first and second, of Moderna’s vaccine. That’s nearly 763,000 new first doses.

Some of those new doses in the weeks ahead will come directly to clinics in Monterey County, on top of what the county receives through the California Department of Public Health. Monterey County Health Officer Edward Moreno announced yesterday that Clinica de Salud in the Salinas Valley will be one of the first clinics in the nation to receive federal shipments of vaccines on a weekly basis. More clinics across the country will be added in waves, with the third wave including Monterey County Health Department clinics, which will receive between 200-300 Moderna doses per week, Moreno said in a press briefing.

Every dose from the federal government administered to clinic patients—like those administered to veterans through the VA-DoD clinic in Marina—means one more dose available to others.

In a bit of more good news for Monterey County, Moreno said the state is going to put an end this week to its practice of doling out vaccines to multi-county health care systems like Sutter Health and Dignity Health and then dividing up the rest to funnel to counties. It’s a practice that the Monterey County Board of Supervisors has questioned as being unfair to counties (like ours) that don’t have such systems, leaving Monterey County behind.

As many doses as we can get our hands on will be needed as the state and county are opening up more eligible groups in March.

Starting March 3, the county will begin accepting the rest of Phase 1b, people ages 65-74, regardless of where they work or live. It will also include those at risk for occupational exposure in agriculture, food, childcare, education and emergency services, regardless of age.

Then on March 17, vaccinations will open up to people ages 16 to 64 years old who have a medical condition or disability that puts them at a greater risk for hospitalization and death.

It’s important to keep in mind that just because one is eligible does not mean they’ll be able to get an appointment right away. Things should get easier, however, especially as more vaccines are produced under federal contracts with vaccine companies through July, when President Joe Biden said there will be enough for 300 million Americans. 

I started by saying I’m cautiously optimistic. That’s because there are still many unknowns ahead. For example, we still don’t know the details of the state’s contract with Blue Shield of California, which is taking over vaccine distribution on Feb. 21, starting in the Central Valley. Monterey County is part of a wave of counties that will be included on March 7. 

Will Blue Shield utilize plans already created and in place by county officials or reinvent the wheel? Will the company be sensitive to the needs of individual counties, especially Monterey County which will see an influx of approximately 40,000 seasonal farmworkers next month? Hopefully we’ll know in the coming week, after Moreno meets with Blue Shield representatives. 

In the meantime, keep wearing those masks and practicing social distancing, still our best defenses against catching or spreading the virus.

-Pam Marino, staff writer, pam@mcweekly.com