Tag Archives: Vaccine

City of Benicia, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Vaccine

Benicia COVID vaccine clinic – This Tuesday is full, but you can sign up for a future clinic

Benicia City Manager Erik Upson, City of Benicia This Week, Feb. 1, 2021
UPDATE from the City website on 2/1: “Anyone interested in volunteering for future vaccine events should go to tinyurl.com/VolunteerBenicia and enter your name, contact information, how you would like to volunteer and any special training or skills you have. We will reach out to you, if we can use your services and skills at future events.”

COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic for Seniors

The City of Benicia announced Friday that it is hosting Solano Public Health Department’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Tuesday, February 2. The clinic is being held for seniors, aged 75 and above, who reside in Solano County. Due to overwhelming response, all 1,400 slots filled by Saturday evening.

Solano Public Health is working to schedule additional vaccine events as vaccine stock becomes available. Those, aged 75 and above, interested in future Benicia clinics may visit www.tinyurl.com/beniciavaccine and leave their name and contact information. City of Benicia staff will reach out if another local clinic is scheduled. Information on COVID-19 vaccinations in Solano County and announcements of additional clinics are available at https://www.solanocounty.com/depts/ph/.

The Moderna vaccine will be administered to registered seniors at Benicia Senior Center on Tuesday. The second dose of the vaccine will be administered in the same location on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Seniors are to return for the second dose at the same appointment time.

“The City of Benicia is excited to offer this vaccination clinic on very short notice to seniors over age 75,” said Mayor Steve Young. “Many thanks are due to our great city staff who worked over the weekend, in coordination with Solano Public Health and Carquinez Village, to set this up. This is a very ambitious effort, and we ask the public for a certain level of patience as we attempt to vaccinate nearly 1,400 people in a single day.”

On Tuesday, check-in will be at Benicia City Gym, 180 East L Street. Because of limited, socially distant waiting space available, seniors are asked to arrive no more than 15 minutes before their appointment. Appointments will be honored even if lines cause delay. One caretaker is allowed with the person being vaccinated. Caretakers will not receive the vaccination.

Due to heavy traffic expected in the area, limited parking will be available.

Suggested options:

• Those who are more mobile are asked to use street parking farther away and walk in.
• There will be a dedicated drop-off zone in front of the City Gym for less ambulatory seniors. Please do not wait for seniors and linger in the pick-up or drop-off zones to prevent further congestion. Keep in touch with your seniors before picking them up.
• Carpooling with those in the same social bubble is encouraged.

• Soltrans is assisting by providing free shuttles to and from dedicated parking lots:

• Benicia Community Center, 370 East L Street
• Benicia Unified School District Office, 350 East K Street

The City of Benicia thanks neighbors and businesses in the area for their patience and understanding on this important vaccination day.

Carquinez Village, the Benicia senior support organization, worked to help facilitate seniors getting their vaccines. Carquinez Village president Susan Neuhaus said, “Carquinez Village is delighted the city of Benicia has stepped up to serve the older adults in our community.”

Upon arrival, seniors will receive a temperature check and be required to wear a mask and social distance throughout the entire process. During check-in, seniors will be required to show proof of age and proof of Solano County residency.

After check-in, seniors will be directed to the Benicia Senior Center where they will be vaccinated, then be observed for 15-30 minutes. The entire process may take up to one hour. After which, seniors may be picked up from the dedicated pick-up zone in the round-about in front of Benicia Public Library, 150 East L Street, or return to their shuttle stop.

City of Benicia staff and volunteers will be manning a dedicated phone line 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Tuesday at 707.746.4710 to assist with questions or issues that may arise.

“The opportunity to host the clinic came about quickly and involves nearly every City of Benicia staff member,” said City Manager Erik Upson. “We will assess the event on Tuesday and use that to improve the experience when we host the follow-up clinic to administer the second dose on March 2.”

Upson also thanks Solano Public Health, Kaiser Permanente, SolTrans, Medic Ambulance, Carquinez Village, Valero Benicia Refinery, Rotary Club of Benicia and numerous community volunteers for their generous assistance in making the clinic possible.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Vaccine

Many who have received the coronavirus vaccine wonder: What can I safely do?

The vaccinated ponder how to live their lives and, in a role reversal, are trying to protect their children

After being vaccinated, Marc Wilson, 70, a retired accountant in Norman, Okla., plans to go back to some activities but not others.
After being vaccinated, Marc Wilson, 70, a retired accountant in Norman, Okla., plans to go back to some activities but not others. (Nick Oxford/For The Washington Post)

Soon after Marc Wilson gets his second dose of coronavirus vaccine, he plans to resume one of his pre-pandemic joys: swimming laps with his friends. But most other activities — including volunteering at a food pantry and homeless shelter — will be off-limits until the outbreak is curbed and scientists know more about the threat of emerging variants.

“I can definitely broaden the things I do, but I still have to be quite cautious,” said Wilson, 70, a retired accountant in Norman, Okla., who has diabetes and other health problems. “When your doctor tells you, ‘If you get covid, you’re dead,’ that gets your attention real good.”

The arrival of coronavirus vaccines is beginning to have an impact on everyday life, with millions of newly inoculated Americans eagerly anticipating a return to long-postponed activities and visits with sorely missed relatives and friends. But with Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, warning that vaccinations are not a “pass,” the recently inoculated are engaged in a new round of complicated risk-benefit assessments. What can I safely do? Where can I go? And how do I interact with people who are not vaccinated?

The answers aren’t simple. In the meantime, the asymmetric nature of the rollout — with many older Americans and health-care workers receiving shots first, while tens of millions of others await their turns — is shifting relationships in families and in society more broadly. Grandparents who once hunkered down at home, most vulnerable to a virus that preys on the elderly, are likely to be better protected than younger relatives who are waiting to be vaccinated.

Experts agree broadly on many issues people have questions about. But they differ on details and lack some important information. They still don’t know, for example, whether people who are vaccinated can get asymptomatic infections and pass them on to those who are not inoculated — which is why they urge people to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing even after receiving their shots. Scientists also are racing to determine how much protection vaccines offer against the highly transmissible variants popping up in the United States.

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are about 95 percent effective against the original version of the virus and highly effective against a variant first found in Britain. New data show vaccines by Novavax and Johnson & Johnson also provide robust protection. But, based on early data, the vaccines appear less potent against a variant that was first identified in South Africa and has been found in the United States.

One thing is clear: Reports of mutated coronaviruses are fueling anxiety and confusion in a populace already worn out by conflicting advice on a pandemic that has been raging for nearly a year in the United States.

People wait in line for the coronavirus vaccine in Paterson, N.J., on Jan. 21. The first people arrived around 2:30 a.m. at one of the few sites that does not require an appointment.

People wait in line for the coronavirus vaccine in Paterson, N.J., on Jan. 21. The first people arrived around 2:30 a.m. at one of the few sites that does not require an appointment. (Seth Wenig/AP)

“It’s brutally hard,” said Robert Wachter, chief of the medicine department at the University of California at San Francisco. “For the past year, we have had our game plan for living and now we have these curveballs — the increased prevalence of the virus, the variants and the vaccines. We have all had to learn to be armchair epidemiologists and now we have these new realities.”

Wachter, 64, who recently got his second shot, said he feels comfortable doing a few things he did not do before being vaccinated, such as going to the dentist and having his hair cut professionally, rather than by his wife, who has not been vaccinated. But he is careful to avoid doing anything that could increase her risk.

He does not plan to dine indoors with people outside his household, even if they are vaccinated, until the coronavirus is much less prevalent and not able to circulate freely. Earlier in the pandemic, experts thought such herd immunity could be achieved after 70 to 75 percent of people were vaccinated or had developed natural immunity from previous coronavirus infections. But the level of coverage may need to be even higher — 80 to 85 percent — if a more transmissible strain becomes dominant, a top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. That could delay herd immunity until the fall or later, scientists say.

Wachter and several older Americans who were recently vaccinated told The Washington Post they consider themselves fortunate to have gotten the shots and realize navigating the uncertainties of a post-vaccine life is a good problem to have. Many are being conservative — birthday parties in crowded bars are not on their agendas — and using their new status to help others who remain unprotected, including adult children who previously had been anxious about their parents’ vulnerability.

For months, Jan Solomon, 69, has been doing the grocery shopping so her 72-year-old husband does not have to go to the store. Now she and her husband, both of whom are getting vaccinated, are focusing on their 35-year-old son, who is temporarily living at their home in Washington and unlikely to be inoculated for months.

“We will definitely still wear masks, not go into restaurants and keep our distance” from others, she said. “We need to protect our son and don’t want to be carriers.”

Many public health experts say while vaccinated people can enjoy a bit more freedom — flying while masked, for example, is far less of a risk after inoculation — behavior should not change much. Besides the concern that inoculated people might serve as carriers of the virus, they note a small number might still get covid-19 while the virus is circulating so widely, although the chances of hospitalization or death are low.

Melanie Swift, co-director of the Mayo Clinic’s vaccination-distribution program, said she would not fly for pleasure, only for work. Given the high level of virus in much of the United States, geriatrician June McKoy of Northwestern Medicine said even people who are vaccinated need to be careful when visiting inoculated elderly relatives, and should wear masks and sanitize their hands.

“The vaccine is not a get-out-of-jail-free card,” she said.

Robert Califf, 69, a cardiologist and Food and Drug Administration commissioner during the Obama administration, agreed people need to take precautions after being vaccinated. But he cautioned doctors against being overly rigid in their prescriptions for post-vaccine life. “People won’t believe you,” he said.

A few weeks after he and his wife get two doses of vaccine, they plan to fly from North Carolina to Colorado to see both sets of grandchildren and will use “testing, masking and modified social distancing” during the trip to keep risks low.

Some doctors say public health experts should emphasize the upside of vaccines and not dwell on what people can’t do after being inoculated. “Doom-and-gloom messaging” is not an effective way to encourage people to get the shots, said Monica Gandhi, an infectious-disease specialist at UCSF. “You have to message hope and optimism.”

She said she doesn’t see a problem with two couples who are vaccinated having dinner indoors together — something Swift and some other doctors advised against until the pandemic is curtailed.

Gandhi said her parents, who are in their 80s, plan to fly to California to visit her after they are vaccinated and then go on to Boston to see her sister and brother. “It’s the only thing they can talk about,” she said, adding, “We need to recognize plain old loneliness. To think it isn’t real belies the very process of evolution that led primates to gather together in groups. It is actually what makes us human.”

She also doubts that people who have received both doses of the vaccines will be able to transmit much of the virus, and points to data from Moderna that showed a sharp drop in transmission after the first dose. Many other scientists say she may be right but that more data is needed.

As the debates among experts continue, many older people who are being vaccinated welcome the possibility of returning to favorite pastimes, hugging a loved one and taking better care of themselves.

Barry MacKichan, a 76-year-old software developer in Hillsborough, N.C., is eager to resume photographing wildlife from somewhere other than his backyard. He also hopes his daughter and three grandchildren, who live in New Zealand, will be able to visit him this summer, an annual tradition disrupted by the pandemic. That may not be until July, after the children are vaccinated.

In the meantime, MacKichan and his wife plan to continue to wear masks “in moral support for everyone else who has to.”

Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Science and Security, welcomes that attitude. She is worried that unless people who are vaccinated continue to wear masks, the United States could become a two-tiered society in which people who are inoculated say, “I can do what I want.” She added: “It causes a social hierarchy based on immune status, and that is bad news.”

Erin Fusco, 45, a nurse and assistant professor at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, will soon receive her second dose of vaccine. Fucso has gone back to the gym she missed badly and uses the treadmill and weights. And she has scheduled a mammogram and a colonoscopy she postponed last year.

But as for other pre-pandemic behaviors, she said: “I’m waiting for someone to tell us that it’s safe.” She said she wants politicians including New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D), Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) or President Biden to authorize a return to normalcy.

President Biden visits a covid-19 vaccination site at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. (Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

President Biden visits a covid-19 vaccination site at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. (Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Katie Clapp, 56, is more expansive about her post-inoculation plans. After she gets her second dose, she plans to restart horseback riding lessons for children at the stable she runs in Stillwater, Minn., to go out to dinner with friends and to visit a new grandchild in Malibu, Calif.

“I’m so excited,” said Clapp, who got vaccinated at a Minneapolis clinic that had extra doses.

But she has become a bit more cautious as virus variants emerge. “If variants make the vaccines less than 95 percent effective, what does that mean?” she said. “Ninety-five percent to what percent?”

The answer to that question and others, experts hope, will come in the next several months, as vaccine makers and the government scrutinize the effect of the vaccines on the variants.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NPR the government and industry are trying to stay “a step or two ahead” of the variants and the manufacturers are coming up with new versions of their vaccines “just in case” they are needed.

In the meantime, he said, he continues to wear a mask and take other precautions even though he has been vaccinated.

Read more:

Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA, Vaccine

Benicia COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Now Full (As of late Saturday 1/30)

IMPORTANT UPDATE: This Tuesday is full, but you can sign up for a future clinic…

Overwhelming demand…

City of Benicia on NextDoor, Communications, Office of Economic Development Teri Davena, January 30, 2021 around 9pm

COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Now Full.  Due to overwhelming demand, the schedule of for the Benicia COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic for Seniors on Tuesday, February 2, is now full.

Solano Public Health is working daily to schedule additional vaccine events.  If you would like to add your name to an interest list to be notified of upcoming local vaccination clinics, go to www.tinyurl.com/beniciavaccine.

For future Benicia announcements on COVID-19, see “UPDATES” (in the left hand column) at https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/coronavirus

Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Vaccine

COVID19 Vaccine offered in Benicia for seniors over 75

By Roger Straw, January 29, 2021

Benician’s over 75 years: Get your COVID-19 vaccine here in Benicia next Tuesday, Feb. 2!

Great news from the City of Benicia, Mayor Steve Young, and former Mayor Elizabeth Patterson today…

City of Benicia on NextDoor:

Click the image for larger, readable version.  Click here to sign up: www.tinyurl.com/beniciavaccine

Benicia COVID-10 Vaccine Clinic for Senior (75+) on Tuesday. The City of Benicia is very excited to offer a COVID-19 vaccine clinic for Solano County seniors (aged 75 and above) on Tuesday, February 2, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Benicia Senior Center.

Sign ups are required. Please share the flyer to your networks to get our senior family members, friends and neighbors signed up as soon as possible at www.tinyurl.com/beniciavaccine. Check-in will be at Benicia City Gym.

Those with questions, or needing assistance signing up can call 707.746.4710. City staff and members of Carquinez Village will be staffing the phone lines Friday thru Tuesday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

COVID-19 Vaccine Sign Up (Ages 75+ ONLY)
signupgenius.com

Mayor Steve Young on NextDoor:

Pop Up Vaccination Clinic for Seniors. The City is holding a vaccination clinic for seniors over 75 on next Tuesday, Feb 2, from 9-4 at the Senior Center. Appointments are required. Sign up at www.tinyurl.com/BENICIAVACCINE.

Email from Elizabeth Patterson:

Vaccination Clinic at the Senior Center

Tuesday, February 2
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Must have an appointment!

  • Vaccines will be given to those aged 75 years and older only.
  • Proof of age and Solano County residency is required at check-in.
  • Vaccine second dose will be given in approximately 28 days. Details to follow.
  • Temperatures will be taken at arrival.
  • Masks will be required to be worn at all times.
  • Social distancing will be required at all times.
  • Please plan to arrive at City Gym no more than 15 minutes early.
  • Prepare for approximately 1 hour to complete the vaccination process.
  • Drivers should keep in contact with their senior for easy pick up. Pick up in front of Library. Help keep traffic moving.
  • Due to limited space, only one caretaker is allowed with senior being vaccinated. (Caretaker will not receive a vaccine.)

NEED HELP SCHEDULING OR HAVE QUESTIONS?

CALL 707-746-4710  or make an appointment online Friday through Tuesday; 9 am – 6 pm

LIMITED PARKING AVAILABLE

-CARPOOLING IS ENCOURAGED

-DROP OFF AVAILABLE IN FRONT OF CITY GYM,180 EAST L STREET

-FREE PARKING AND SHUTTLES AVAILABLE AT

BENICIA COMMUNITY CENTER PARKING LOT, 370 EAST L STREET

BENICIA SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICE PARKING LOT, 350 EAST K STREET

Printable Flyer
Vaccination Day Traffic Flow Map