Stanislaus is not getting its share of COVID vaccine. ‘The unfairness has to change’
Stanislaus County officials said Tuesday the county is dealing with the reality of not getting a proportional allocation of coronavirus vaccines for residents and essential workers.
Vito Chiesa, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, said the state is allocating more vaccine to affluent counties near the coast, while Stanislaus struggles to provide the shots to teachers, agricultural workers and people who have front-line jobs serving the public.
Stanislaus has been able to administer 9,433 doses per 100,000 residents, which is about half the doses administered in Napa County per capita, according to the Los Angeles Times vaccination tracker. Stanislaus officials say all the doses allocated to the county each week are injected or distributed to approved health care providers.
Marin County, where the average household income is $126,373 per year, the poverty rate is 7.6 percent and average property value is $1.07 million, has administered 16,853 doses per 100,000 population. Stanislaus is a poorer county with average household income of $60,321 per year, poverty level of 16.1 percent and average property value of $318,900, according to figures posted by DataUSA.
Five Bay Area counties with more political clout have administered between 11,520 to 16,852 doses per 100,000. In other San Joaquin Valley counties that have been hard hit by COVID-19, Merced has administered only 5,557 doses per 100,000, San Joaquin 8,327, Madera 8,181 and Fresno 9,128 per 100,000.
“It’s a fundamental unfairness that has to change,” Chiesa said.
The Stanislaus Health Services Agency is faced with completing vaccinations in Phase 1A and getting to essential workers in Phase 1B of the state’s priority system.
Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county health officer, said the employee groups in Phase 1B, along with seniors 65 and older, add up to more than 135,000 people or a quarter of the county population. They include 17,400 teachers and other school employees, 34,300 agricultural workers and perhaps 3,900 grocery store workers.
The county is still searching for an estimate for the number of restaurant employees. Eligible residents have lined up for vaccinations at county-run clinics in Modesto, Turlock, Oakdale and Patterson, but the county started the week with 400 first doses.
County staff said an allocation of 5,550 doses was expected to arrive later on Tuesday.
Vaishampayan told supervisors the county’s coronavirus transmission numbers are coming down from a deadly December and January surge. COVID-related hospitalizations were at 192 on Monday, down from 350-plus during the worst of the surge.
According to a state update Tuesday, Stanislaus has a case rate of 35.1 per 100,000 population and testing positivity of 9.1 percent. As it reviews the tier status for counties once a week, the state can adjust the data upward based on testing and transmission in lower income neighborhoods.
Vaishampayan said testing is down about 500 tests per day because fewer people are feeling ill and seeking a COVID-19 test.
The health officer said the county outbreak is still far from the metrics required for entering the state’s “red tier”, which allows for more schools to reopen and relaxes restrictions on businesses.
Requirements for the less restrictive tier include daily cases of 7 per 100,000 or less and test positivity no higher than 8 percent. State officials have talked about 25 cases per 100,000 as a measuring stick for reopening more schools under strict safety precautions.
“We still have a whole lot of people in hospitals and a lot of people in (intensive care units),” Vaishampayan said, though COVID wasn’t the only cause for busy hospitals. Residents still need to be vigilant with facemasks, distancing and avoiding gatherings.
Vaishampayan said coronavirus variants are a concern for health officials. What is sometimes called a South African strain is probably most worrisome due to expert opinion that current vaccines are not as effective against it, she said.
In addition, there is some evidence the U.K. strain, named for a variant that’s spread in the United Kingdom, may cause more severe illness, Vaishampayan said.
UC Davis confirmed a case of the U.K. variant in the Sacramento area this week.
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 2:22 PM.
