Benicia Mayor Steve Young asked the Solano County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to move teachers to the front of the vaccination line so schools can open quickly and safely.
“And the key, as I see it, and absolutely to do that, is being able to vaccinate each teacher and member of the (schools’) staff,” Young said.
Educators are scheduled as part of the first tier of Phase 1B, the same as residents who are 65 to 74, agriculture workers, as well as child care and adult care workers.
The county is currently working through the groups in the final tier of Phase 1A.
Dr. Bela Matyas, the county public health officer, said the next group of seniors need to be the top priority since 80% of the county’s Covid-related deaths are residents who are 65 or older.
“So if we want to make a dent in our fatalities, we have to focus on (residents) 65 and older,” Matyas said in a phone interview after the board meeting. He was not part of the meeting agenda.
Matyas said he was aware of the pressure being applied to get teachers vaccinated more quickly, but does not agree that politicizing the issue is the best way to make health decisions.
Young’s comments came during the public comment period of the board meeting, during which Michele Guerra also called on the board to open the schools.
She said students, especially those who are deaf or hard of hearing, need to be back in the classrooms.
“Students are struggling with all this technology,” she said. “We need to get these schools open. Many of these students are falling behind.”
The board heard a similar message early in the pandemic from Superintendent of Schools Lisette Estrella-Henderson.
She told the board she was concerned with the potential effects of having schools closed on students with disabilities because of the reliance on distance learning and technology.
The schools closed to in-class instruction at the start of the pandemic in March. The vast majority remain closed, with children and teens receiving instruction online from their teachers….
COVID is still spreading and dangerous in Solano County – stay safe!
Tuesday, February 9: 46 new Solano cases overnight, 6 new deaths. Since February 2020: 29,040 cases, over 850 hospitalized, 140 deaths.Compare previous report, Monday, February 8:Summary
CASES – Solano County reported 46 new cases overnight, a total of 29,040 cases since the outbreak started. In the month of January, Solano added 8,495 new cases, for an average of 274 new cases per day. Today’s single-day increase of only 46 is the lowest since October 28 of last year. But according to the Fairfield Daily Republic, “Dr. Bela Matyas, the county public health officer, said the number is likely a reporting glitch from the state.”
DEATHS – the County reported 6 new deaths overnight, a total of 140 Solano deaths since the pandemic began. 18 Solano County COVID deaths have been reported in the first 10 days of February, and in the month of January, Solano recorded 24 coronavirus deaths. While many other COVID stats are improving, the recent surge in deaths is no doubt the final sad result of our holiday surge.
ACTIVE cases – Solano reported 134 fewer active cases today, a total of 765 active cases. Compare: Solano’s average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650, in December 1,658, in January 2,185 – and TODAY we are back down to 765. Much better, but still, is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons? My guess is we just sit back and wait for a voluntary 10 day quarantine to expire. Who knows? To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
HOSPITALIZATIONS –(See expanding ICU capacity and ventilator availability below.) Today, Solano reported 3 fewer currently hospitalized cases, total of 86. However, in the number of hospitalizations among age groups, the county reported an increase of 6 new hospitalizations, 3 aged 50-64 and 3 over age 65, for a total of 855 hospitalized in all age groups since the pandemic began.) Even then, accuracy cannot be certain – note>> In a Dec. 31 Fairfield Daily Republic article, reporter Todd Hanson wrote, “Since the start of the pandemic, and as of Wednesday, 9,486 residents have been hospitalized.” This startling number is far and away above the number of residents hospitalized as indicated in the County’s count of age group hospitalizations, and not available anywhere on the County’s COVID-19 dashboard. Asked about his source, Hanson replied that Solano Public Health “had to do a little research on my behalf.” It would be good if the County could add Total Hospitalized to its daily Dashboard update. [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below. For COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
ICU BEDS – In late January, Solano hospitals expanded their ICU capacity [see BenIndy, Jan. 25] Even with the expanded ICU capacity, Solano County remained in the YELLOW DANGER ZONE until yesterday’s encouraging GREEN ZONE report. But today the County went YELLOW again, reporting 30% available today, down from 34% yesterday. The State’s COVID19-CA.GOV reports that Solano County had 15 AVAILABLE ICU BEDS as of yesterday, February 8. (For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)
VENTILATORS available – Today Solano hospitals have 58% of ventilators available, up from yesterday’s 55% but down substantially from last summer’s reports of 82-94% available.
Positive Test Rate – SOLANO TEST RATE of 10.2% – STILL HIGH, VIRUS STILL SPREADING, STAY SAFE!
Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test rate of 10.2%, up from yesterday’s 9.6%, and still above the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%. Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus. COMPARE: The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate was 4.8% today, down from yesterday’s 5.0%. (Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results. However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results. The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.)
By Age Group
Youth 17 and under – 4 new cases overnight, total of 3,367 cases, representing 11.6% of the 29,040 total cases. No new hospitalizations were reported today among this age group, total of 18 since the outbreak began. Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age group. But cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has remained at over 11% since September 30. Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11% may seem low. The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 18 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
Persons 18-49 years of age – 27 new cases overnight, total of 16,040 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 55.3% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups. The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today. A total of 243 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began. Solano recorded no new deaths in this young group today, total of 9 deaths. Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders. I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
Persons 50-64 years of age – 7 new cases overnight, total of 6,078 cases. This age group represents 20.9% of the 29,040 total cases. The County reported 3 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today, a total of 233 reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began. 2 new deaths were reported in this age group today, a total of 23 deaths.
Persons 65 years or older – 8 new cases overnight, total of 3,544, representing 12.2% of Solano’s 29,040 total cases. The County reported 3 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today, a total of 361 hospitalized since the outbreak began. 4 new deaths were reported in this age group today. A total of 108 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 77%of Solano’s 140 total deaths.
City Data
Benicia added 2 new cases overnight, total of 827 cases since the outbreak began.
Dixon added 2 new cases overnight, total of 1,701 cases.
Fairfield added 15 new cases overnight, total of 7,921 cases.
Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 291 cases.
Suisun City added 6 new cases overnight, total of 1,965 cases.
Vacaville added 8 new cases overnight, total of 7,686 cases.
Vallejoadded 13 new cases overnight, total of 8,563 cases.
Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 86 cases.
Race / Ethnicity
The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics. This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans. Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.
Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 17% of hospitalizations, and 21% of deaths.
Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 13% of cases, 21% of hospitalizations, and 13% of deaths.
Multi-race / Others are 7% of Solano’s population, but account for 35% of cases, 18% of hospitalizations, and 12% of deaths.
White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 29% of cases, 31% of hospitalizations and 34% of deaths.
A worker is seen at a coronavirus testing site in San Francisco in November. The city has had no known cases of the South Africa variant, but elsewhere in the Bay Area two cases have been recorded. Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle 2020San Francisco Chronicle, by Erin Allday, Feb. 10, 2021
Two cases of a coronavirus variant first found in South Africa that reduces the effectiveness of some vaccines have been identified in the Bay Area, in Alameda and Santa Clara counties, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.
They are the first two cases of this variant, called B.1.351, to be found in California. They were identified by scientists at the Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory Tuesday night and reported to the state Wednesday morning.
Variants that are more infectious or reduce vaccine effectiveness pose a threat to the state’s ability to control and quickly end the pandemic, public health officials have said. More than 150 cases of a variant first identified in the United Kingdom that is known to be more infectious have been found in California, including Alameda and San Mateo counties.
Another pair of closely related variants identified in California have been spreading quickly in the Bay Area and Southern California. Scientists believe those variants respond to vaccines but they are running tests now to determine if they reduce effectiveness. They’re also studying whether the variants are more infectious.
The variant from South Africa is considered particularly concerning because studies have found that it is able to partially evade the body’s immune response, whether it’s generated from a vaccine or previous infection with the coronavirus. So far the vaccines appear to prevent severe disease and death from the variant.
“The British variant, it’s still susceptible to vaccines and it’s going to spread anyway. But let’s get this one back in the box,” said Dr. George Rutherford, an infectious disease expert at UCSF.
As of Tuesday, nine cases of the variant from South African had been identified in three states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number did not include the new California cases.
“These variants are here,” Dr. Nicholas Moss, the Alameda County health officer, said at a press event on Wednesday. “We should prepare and plan accordingly.” Because relatively few coronavirus cases are genomically sequenced, he said, “we only have a very limited picture of their spread locally.”
Dr. Benjamin Pinsky, who heads the Stanford lab that found the variants, said they are identified through a process that first screens positive coronavirus samples for specific mutations. Samples that have those mutations then go through genomic sequencing to confirm the variant.
The two cases announced on Wednesday were from samples sent to the lab about a week to ten days ago, Pinsky said. His lab also identified the first cases of the variant from the United Kingdom found in the Bay Area.
The two vaccines currently available in the United States, made by Pfizer and Moderna, provide some protection against B.1.351, but perhaps less than the initial virus from China for which they were designed.
The Moderna vaccine induced an immune response six times lower against the variant from South African compared to earlier variants, the company said in late January after conducting a small study. But even this lower level of immune response, or neutralizing antibodies, is likely enough to protect against COVID-19, the company said.
Similarly, the Pfizer vaccine also induced a slightly lower level of neutralizing antibodies against the variant but it should still be enough to protect against COVID-19, according to studies by Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch. The difference is “unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in the effectiveness of the vaccine,” Pfizer said.
Pfizer and Moderna are both made using messenger RNA, a type of technology that allows vaccine manufacturers to tweak vaccines quickly to account for variants. So the companies could essentially “plug in” a slightly adjusted genetic sequence into the vaccine. This could still be concerning, though, because even though the vaccine itself could be tweaked fast, it would take time to produce and distribute.
Also concerning is whether other vaccines in the pipeline, particularly one made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, will work against emerging variants. South Africa recently stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine because of reduced effectiveness. That vaccine is not yet approved for use in the United States. South Africa switched to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has yet to be authorized in any country but in clinical studies was shown to be 57% effective at preventing moderate to severe disease caused by B.1.351.
Scientists in South Africa also have said that people who were previously infected with other coronavirus variants appear to be susceptible to reinfection with the new one.
Moss of Alameda County expressed optimism about vaccines. But meanwhile, he said, “We have to stick with the things we know work for the time being. That means, face coverings, distancing, and limiting gatherings.”
“The most important thing with variants is to just limit the amount of COVID that is out there,” he added.
San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Aidin Vaziri and Catherine Ho contributed to this report. Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) — The Chevron refinery in Richmond is investigating an oil spill Tuesday afternoon, according to city and county officials.
The spill happened in what’s called the “Long Wharf” off Point Richmond, where a sheen can be seen on the top of the water at Bear Point.
California’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) says a pipeline is leaking approximately five gallons a minute. It’s unknown what caused the spill at this time.
Crews are trying to stop the leak, which “has not been stopped and is not contained with waterways impacted (San Francisco Bay),” according to OES officials.
The Contra Costa Health Department is calling this a “Level 2” incident and issued a public health advisory for residents of Richmond, North Richmond and San Pablo.
The incident “could affect individuals with respiratory sensitivities,” health officials said.
While noting most people will not be affected, officials say eye, skin, nose or throat irritation may be possible for some people in the affected area.
Health officials advise that if people experience any irritation, they should go inside and rinse any irritated area with water.
ICU BEDS – In late January, Solano hospitals expanded their ICU capacity [see 
VENTILATORS available – Today 
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