San Benito County officials are anticipating some more progress in the fight against Covid-19 as they plan to advance into the first of two tiers in Phase 1B of California’s vaccination plan.
The county issued a press release on Jan. 23 stating that the county is advancing into the next phase next week as a majority of individuals in tiers 1-3 of Phase 1A have received their shot.
The county is scheduled to receive a very limited supply of the Covid-19 vaccine during the week of Jan. 25 for people in the Phase 1B, Tier 1 group, which includes those 65 years old or above and those at risk of exposure at work in education and childcare, emergency services and food and agriculture.
The California Department of Public Health stated that all providers should continue vaccinating all persons in Phase 1A and make it a priority to administer shots to those 65 years of age or older.
The state’s public health department also stressed that based on available vaccine supply, prioritization and target outreach efforts are focused on those 75 years or older due to increased risk of mortality and other severe disease.
Others who are prioritized include those who work in sectors with high occupational exposure as listed in Phase 1B, Tier 1 and those that live in vulnerable communities-as determined by the California Healthy Places Index.
The CDPH determines and allocates Covid-19 vaccine doses to each county, according to San Benito County officials. San Benito County Public Health Services sub-allocates doses to Covid-19 state-approved CalVax vaccine providers within the county.
San Benito County Public Health Services, Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital and San Benito Health Foundation were the first to set up for Phase 1A of vaccinations.
County officials said that additional providers are onboarding to the CalVax system, which allows them to receive sub-allocations of vaccine doses as they move to the next phase.
Newly approved providers such as Lucky’s Pharmacy, Dr. Martin Bress and Primary Care Associates will be sub-allocating vaccine doses next week.
County officials said those who submitted interest forms on the San Benito County Vaccine Portal and those who are patients of the above providers will be contacted directly by the providers.
Any providers that wish to administer vaccine shots to health care workers and to patients must register to receive the vaccine by enrolling in the CDPH CalVax system. Additional instructions may be found at https://eziz.org/covid/enrollment/.
“San Benito County receives limited vaccine doses. Please be patient as the county advances through the phases and tiers,” county officials said.
For questions regarding Covid-19 or vaccines call the San Benito County Covid-19 Hotline at 831-636-4113 or visit the State of CA Vaccine page at: https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccines/
