Hello Benicia, Fairfield, and Vallejo,

Welcome to my most recent update. I can be reached at mebrown@solanocounty.com.

CORONAVIRUS

We are still in a pandemic. Our hospitals are overwhelmed, our residents are catching this virus, and we are seeing consumers pull back on activities because of the continuing pandemic. It is devastating to see the impacts on our community.

However, as I have said many times and as we have heard from many people, this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. According to the most recent data, 77.5% of those in Solano County testing positive for COVID-19 are unvaccinated. Data has also shown that those who are vaccinated are much less likely to have symptoms, even less likely to have a severe illness, and to have a statistically small chance of dying. You have a 17x higher chance of being hospitalized if you are unvaccinated. Vaccines work and they are the key to beating this pandemic.

I plead with our entire community to get vaccinated. This is the easiest and most effective way to keep all of us safe. It is also protecting our most vulnerable residents, children under 12 and those who are immunocompromised, from the disease. Please get vaccinated if you have not already. If you have been vaccinated, please encourage everyone you know to get vaccinated. We are all in this together and we will only success together.

Solano County has many opportunities for you to get vaccinated. The county is offering all three COVID-19 vaccinations at the Solano Mall (1350 Travis Blvd in Fairfield on the second floor across from the Applebee’s) and rapid COVID-19 testing every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10am-7pm. No appointment is necessary, but you may make an appointment by calling 707-784-8655.

At this past Tuesday’s Board meeting, the subject of a mask mandate and a vaccine mandate was brought forward. While I wanted both, there was not enough support on the Board for either. The Board did mandate that if a local jurisdiction in the county has a mask mandate, then any county buildings in that jurisdiction must follow it. The two jurisdictions in Solano County with mask mandates are Benicia and Vallejo. I sent a letter to the Governor asking him to implement a statewide mask mandate. Please wear your masks. This pandemic is not over.

I want to thank Dr. Bonnie Hamilton from the Napa Solano Medical Society for speaking in support of a mask mandate. The Napa Solano Medical Society represents over 1,200 physicians in the Napa Solano area. I also want to thank Dr. Seth Kaufman, who is the chief medical officer for NorthBay Healthcare, for speaking in support of a mask mandate. Their testimony, along with the guidelines from the Center for Disease Control, make it abundantly clear that the science supports mandating masks.

The California Department of Public Health is looking for partner organizations to set up on-site rapid testing for employees, guests and/or community members. The state will provide test kits, training, and other support. This is free to organizations. For more information, please contact testing.taskforce@cdph.ca.gov.