Merced County vaccination efforts continue amid more COVID-19 deaths, infections
The Merced County Department of Public Health said Wednesday that it continues to receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which are being administered to eligible groups.
While distribution of the vaccine varies per county, locally those who are eligible for the vaccine are being directly notified through their employers or care providers.
“As future groups become eligible, communication protocols will be implemented to inform members of the public as to who is currently eligible and when they will be eligible to receive a vaccination,” county officials said in an email Wednesday.
So far the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine has been limited to groups in the Phase 1A of the county’s distribution plan (shown below).
The county remains in that phase based on the amount of vaccine received, according to a news release. The allocation of vaccine the county has received thus far has been made based on factors like the number of health care professionals.
To date, the Merced County Department of Public Health has received 6,000 vaccines for a population of roughly 277,680.
According to the release, Merced County is designated as a 100 percent Health Provider Shortage area, which means that its average number of health care providers is lower than state average. As a result, the number of vaccines received has been extremely low.
The health department says it has been advocating for more vaccines because there are more people who need it than the department has been allocated.
The Merced County Department of Health released a chart that showed the three different tiers for the distribution plan and which groups are currently eligible to receive the vaccine.
“The supply of the COVID-19 vaccine is limited, which means that the vaccine will be offered to different groups of people in different phases, starting with our healthcare workers,” the department said. “As more vaccines become available, it will be offered to everyone.”
Residents who have questions about the vaccine distribution can call Merced County’s COVID-19 information line at 209-381-1180 or check the Merced County’s vaccine information online.
.png "final-updated-p_51860703 (1).png")
Local COVID-19 cases continue to surge
The Merced County Department of Health reported two new COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, increasing the total number of residents who’ve died from the virus to 287.
There have been 27 COVID-19 related deaths since Jan. 1.
There were 284 new cases of COVID-19 reported Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Merced County to 22,932 since the start of the pandemic.
There have been 1,426 confirmed cases since Friday.
There are currently 3,687 cases considered active. The number of residents currently hospitalized in Merced County due to the virus dropped from 48 on Tuesday to 43 on Wednesday.
State vaccination protocols
California officials announced Wednesday a dramatic overhaul of their vaccine program, saying that counties can now begin vaccinating anyone older than age 65 “in order to increase the pace of COVID-19 vaccine distribution to those at greatest risk.”
The change comes just one month into the state’s massive but struggling effort to inoculate up to 40 million Californians, essentially dropping a month’s worth of guideline planning that had proven too burdensome and confusing.
“There is no higher priority than efficiently and equitably distributing these vaccines as quickly as possible to those who face the gravest consequences,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Individuals 65 and older are now the next group eligible to start receiving vaccines. To those not yet eligible for vaccines, your turn is coming. We are doing everything we can to bring more vaccine into the state.”
The state announcement comes a day after federal health officials changed their suggested guidelines to states to simplify vaccinations in hopes of speeding up what has been a slow initial launch.
California in particular has been slow to administer vaccines. As of Tuesday, the state had only distributed 25% of the 3.3 million doses it has received — well below the national average — prompting Newsom and his chief health official, Dr. Mark Ghaly, to acknowledge the state’s efforts have been lackluster.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 6:04 PM.
