Sacramento health officials to hold public forum on vaccines, other COVID-19 issues
With coronavirus pandemic infections at record numbers, Sacramento County health officials will hold two public Zoom forums this month to detail efforts to stop the spread of the virus and to discuss plans to distribute vaccines.
County Health Department head Dr. Peter Beilenson, who announced his resignation late Wednesday, said the county hopes to obtain a first shipment of vaccines as early as this month, to be focused first on high-risk individuals.
The first forum will be held Thursday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Advance registration is required. The online sign-up is available on the county COVID-19 page here: COVID-19 Public Health Forums
Sign ups are also available at bit.ly/2Vu6TNh
The second session will be held Dec. 17, also at 6 p.m. Beilenson and Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye will offer updates and will answer public questions. Interpretation will be provided for American Sign Language, Chinese, Hmong, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
Daily cases in Sacramento County have soared in the last month, leading to crowding in local hospitals. The number of patients with known COVID-19 in county hospitals jumped from 74 in October to 363 as of midweek.
That is similar to the increase statewide that prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to say he may issue a new stay-at-home order this week.
Officials say they believe family gatherings during Thanksgiving will accelerate the number of COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks, and are hoping to avoid a similar surge around Christmas.
Sacramento officials also will describe their efforts to prepare to receive an as-yet undetermined number of virus vaccine doses. The county initially intends to aim its limited supply at high-risk county residents, including older people living in congregate care facilities, as well as first responders, such as firefighters and emergency medical technicians who deal with people who are sick from COVID-19.
Over time, county officials say they expect to receive repeated shipments of vaccines.
Sacramento County officials say they have ordered “pharma grade” freezers to store some of the vaccines at the necessary low temperatures.
Local private health care providers also are expected to receive vaccine doses for their members and patients, although the timing and amount of those vaccines remains undetermined. Under federal and state guidelines, the first limited-supply dosages, to be distributed as early as this month, will go to hospital workers.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Dr. Robert Wachter, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the UC San Francisco laid out what he sees as the likely vaccine scenario in 2021.
Vaccines will be in short supply initially, he said. Only about 5% of the U.S. population would be vaccinated by the end of January, he projected. But enough people could be vaccinated by September for the country to hit the herd-immunity threshold, which he estimates to be at 70% of the U.S. population.
By January 2022, anyone who wants a vaccine should have been able to get one, Wachter said. “This timeline could shorten if additional vaccines are approved, and lengthen if there are roll-out glitches.”
He said he is concerned though that some people will refuse the vaccine, especially given that some recipients in early trials have felt symptoms for one or two days after getting the shots. He said he also fears public misinformation efforts that will tie subsequent heart attacks, strokes, cancer and other health issues to the vaccine, although those negative health events happen on an ongoing basis.
