[BenIndy editor: This report does not mention Solano County, but it does provide a link to a fascinating, extensive and detailed spreadsheet: “updated data from the California Department of Public Health”. Clearly the State did NOT advance Solano out of the RED tier today. – R.S.]
Amador County moves to yellow tier; Yolo County advances closer to least restrictive tier
This week Amador, Orange, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties moved to the yellow tier.
With the most recent data update, five counties saw case rates and positivity rates that put them in a position to move next week if their numbers remain low:
Placer County could move to the orange tier.
Yolo County to move to the yellow tier.
Plumas County to move to the yellow tier.
Inyo County to move to the yellow tier.
Merced County could move to the orange tier.
Yuba and Tuolumne county were in a position to move to a less restrictive tier last week, but their case rates rose to a point where they were ineligible to move this week.
Counties need to meet the next tiers metrics requirements for two consecutive weeks before moving tiers. There are only three more weeks of tier changes until June 15, when the state plans to retire the tier system. So, there still is enough time for more counties down one more tier before there are no more tiers.
Solano County case rates and vaccination rates lagging behind other Bay Area counties
Solano County is the only Bay Area county still left in the red tier, while the rest of the Bay Area is in the less restrictive orange and yellow tiers. California Department of Public HealthSan Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 2021, by Kellie Hwang
In recent months, coronavirus case rates have plummeted in much of the Bay Area. Most of the region’s counties are now in California’s “moderate” orange reopening tier, which allows for loosened restrictions, and San Francisco moved to the least restrictive yellow tier on Tuesday.
But Solano County, which has continued to struggle with higher case rates than the rest of the Bay Area, is still stuck in the red tier — the second-most-restrictive in the four-tier system.
According to the latest data from the state for the week ending April 24, Solano reported 8.8 new daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, and an adjusted case rate of 8.3, which takes into account a county’s testing efforts.
The metrics that the state considers for tier assignment, though, are fairly low, with a positive test rate of 2.7% and a health equity positive test rate of 2.1%. From April 28 to May 4, the average daily case rate for the county was 10 per 100,000, while the Bay Area’s overall average daily case rate was 5.
Dr. Bela Matyas, health officer for the county, said officials know the main reason for the persistently higher case rates.
“People who are not vaccinated are getting together with friends and family and not social distancing,” he said. “It’s been a problem since the very beginning.”
He said the stubborn case rates over the past couple of months can be attributed to younger individuals. The county’s COVID-19 dashboard shows 55% of cases in the 18 to 49 age group, 21% in residents 50 to 64, and 12% in individuals 65 and older. The 18 to 49 age group also has a lower vaccination rate, with 46% having received at least one dose compared to 68% in people 50 to 64 and 79% in residents 65 to 74.
“They are engaging in activities on the presumption that the pandemic is under control or behind us,” Matyas said.
Part of it could be frustration with the pandemic, and part of it could be the “sense they will not have a bad outcome” if they become infected, he said.
Matyas added that it’s hard to compare Solano County to much of the Bay Area when it comes to the pandemic. He called it a “bridge community between the two different cultures” of the Bay Area and the Central Valley.
Vaccination rates are lower than most other Bay Area counties, and vaccine hesitancy is also an issue.
“Very liberal counties have very high rates of vaccination, and traditionally conservative counties have low rates of vaccination,” he said. “We’re in the middle, a blend of the two.”
Matyas said vaccination rates tend to be higher in the southern part of the county that includes Vallejo (61.5% with at least one dose) and Benicia (72.3%), and becomes more moderate and conservative moving north to Fairfield (57.5%) and Vacaville (53.1%).
According to Solano County’s vaccine dashboard, 58% of residents 16 and older have received at least one vaccine dose, while 39% are fully vaccinated. Compare that to neighboring Napa County, where 66% of residents have received at least one vaccine dose, and 47% are fully vaccinated, or Marin County, which has the Bay Area’s highest vaccination rates with 83% having received at least one dose, and 64% fully vaccinated.
“Attendance at clinics is way down” in Solano, Matyas said. “To be honest, there are people in Solano County who don’t want it, who are choosing not to be vaccinated with full knowledge of their decision.”
So will Solano be able to make it to the orange tier? Matyas said the county has been trying, and has consistently provided outreach and education.
“We’ve never been in orange, and have been in the red and purple tiers the whole time,” Matyas said. “I would love to get to the orange because businesses, services and activities are clearly being limited in the red.”
Matyas said officials have achieved the goal of providing the vaccine to those who want it, and have mostly minimized the highest risk in the community, vaccinating nearly 80% of residents 65 and older so far.
At this point, Matyas said the primary goals for the county have shifted to ensuring access to vaccines for anyone who has had trouble receiving them, and helping those who are hesitant get past their hesitancy.
Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties come close to advancing, but miss the cut
Vallejo Times-Herald, By Nico Savidge & Matt O’Donnell, April 20, 2021
Jack Barenchi smiles as he gets a shot of the Moderna vaccine from Registered Nurse Richard Miralles with Kaiser Permanente during the Solano County Public Health COVID-19 vaccinations at the Solano County Fairgrounds. (Chris Riley—Times-Herald)
Several Bay Area counties learned Tuesday that they will stay put in the orange tier of California’s system of pandemic restrictions for at least the next two weeks, as the least-restrictive reopening level remains elusive.
Marin County was eligible to advance this week to the yellow tier, which indicates “minimal” coronavirus spread, and would have been the first in the Bay Area to do so this year. But a slight uptick in new cases dashed those hopes.
Data collected by the state that is used to determine tier assignments showed none of the Bay Area’s nine counties — where all are in the orange tier except for Solano County, which is in red — met the criteria to advance Tuesday.
“Solano County will remain in red tier status and we expect to stay in this tier for the near future,” said Jayleen Richards, the public health administrator for Solano County Health & Social Services. “Solano Public Health would like to move to a less restrictive tier, but data is not indicating that we will move to a less restrictive tier soon.”
For the state of California, that doesn’t mean coronavirus is surging again; no county is on pace to move backward into a more-restrictive tier. Instead, the dramatic decline in cases that has unfolded since the state’s devastating winter surge has more or less plateaued for the past month.
The yellow stage allows bars that don’t offer food service to start seating customers indoors at up to 25% capacity, and would bump up capacity limits at other businesses such as bowling alleys, wineries and museums. Outdoor gatherings of up to 100 people are permitted in the tier.
To reach it, counties must have a test positivity rate of less than 2% and report a testing-adjusted rate of less than 2 new cases per 100,000 residents per day.
On Tuesday, state officials reported San Mateo County had a case rate of 2.0, while San Francisco’s stood at 2.2 — the second straight week both counties barely missed out on the yellow tier. Under California’s rules, counties must meet the criteria for a less-restrictive stage for two straight weeks before advancing.
State officials are planning to phase out the four-level reopening plan known as the Blueprint for a Safer Economy in mid-June, when Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he will lift most pandemic restrictions.
Only Lassen, Sierra and Alpine counties, home to less than 35,000 combined residents, have reached the yellow tier.
Starting today, Solano County is expanding vaccine eligibility to individuals living or working in Solano County who are age 16 and older, in accordance with state guidance to expand eligibility to all Californians in this age group.
After the statement issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommending the administration of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine be paused temporarily, Solano County is also pausing use of the J&J vaccine at this time.
Until further notice, all vaccine clinics scheduled by the County will be administering the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. The public is urged to keep their appointments if they have already been scheduled.
“We are pleased to expand eligibility to all community members age 16 and older in Solano County,” said Bela T. Matyas, M.D., M.P.H., Solano County Health Officer. “With the temporary pause in providing the J&J vaccine, appointments for first vaccine doses may continue to be limited. We ask that the public continue to be patient as the pace of administering vaccines depends on supply. In the meantime, please continue to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by maintaining distance from those outside your household, by wearing a mask and by washing your hands often.”
Vaccines, including Johnson & Johnson, have been shown to be overwhelmingly safe and effective at preventing COVID-19. No adverse events have been reported in Solano County following administration of the J&J vaccine. The CDC and FDA’s recommendation to pause administration of the J&J vaccine is made out of an abundance of caution as the investigation is conducted into the six cases of blood clotting recently reported in the United States.
It is important to note that these reactions have been extremely rare, as nearly 7 million people have received the J&J vaccine to date in the United States. The County will continue to monitor the situation and provide additional information to the public as soon as it becomes available.
Vaccinations are no cost and available to all current eligible groups regardless of health insurance or immigration status.
Community members eligible to receive the vaccine are asked to sign up using the state’s vaccine notification and scheduling platform, www.myturn.ca.gov, or through the Solano County COVID-19 Vaccine Interest Form, www.bit.ly/solanovax, to get priority notifications on upcoming COVID-19 vaccine clinics. For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine administration and rollout in Solano County, visit www.solanocounty.com/covidvaccine and on Facebook, @SolanoCountyPH.
ABC10 News, by Chelsea Shannon, May 18, 2021
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