Alameda County Health Care Services Agency Update
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Please share with your networks
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On January 27, the Governor announced that Blue Shield will be contracted to centralize COVID-19 vaccine distribution in California. We await further details on how these announcements will affect the process for our county and we will monitor these changes to ensure the safe and equitable distribution of vaccine to all residents. We are ready to leverage our community partnerships and deep knowledge of our neighborhoods to make sure everyone has opportunity to receive vaccine. While the return to the Purple Tier is welcome news for our county and largely the result of our community’s efforts to use COVID-19 precautions, the number of new cases reported daily is more than double the summer peak. We must continue to wear masks, keep 6 feet apart, and avoid crowds – this includes individuals who have received the COVID vaccine. A little over a year ago we activated our Agency Department Operations Center to respond to a newly emerging virus now known as COVID-19. A year later, we are grateful for so many partners and our staff who continue working tirelessly on response. And we are saddened by the loss of life and harm the pandemic has caused across our county.
You’ll find this week’s Board of Supervisors update and back issues of our newsletter here. Thank you for helping us save lives in Alameda County and doing your part.
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Vaccine supply remains limited. On January 25, the Governor announced that the State will transition to an age-based framework for vaccine prioritization after Phase 1b Tier 1 of the State’s vaccination framework. No additional details about the new framework are available at this time. The Governor’s announcement aligns with our plans transition to Phase 1b, Tier 1 (65+, First Responders, Education workers, Food and Agricultural workers) in February. The total number of doses administered in Alameda County as of January 28, is 116,304 according to the State’s Vaccine Dashboard. We held our third meeting of the Vaccine Community Advisory Group this week, and you can watch the recording here. As we plan for vaccinating groups beyond health care workers and placement of County Points of Dispensing (PODs), we are taking into consideration disproportionally impacted communities, which include large numbers of essential workers who do not have the option to work from home. Geographically, many of our disproportionately impacted communities overlap with Healthy Place Index (HPI) Quartile 1 census tracts. We already use the HPI to monitor rates of testing positivity. Our community PODs continued at St. Rose Hospital at Castro Valley Library this week, administering ~1,000 vaccinations per day. We continue planning mega PODs for February that will ramp up to 5,000 vaccinations while we await further details for the recently announced age-band framework and pending changes to statewide distribution.
Residents, employers, and health care providers are asked to complete one of the following forms to be notified when the vaccine might be available according to the state prioritization framework:
When there is enough vaccine to expand vaccination options, Alameda County will share that information widely, along with information on when and how eligible groups can get vaccinated. A photo ID, proof of registration, and proof of belonging in the current phase and tier being vaccinated are required. If an appointment is made, but a person is not a part of the phase of being vaccinated, they risk having the appointment canceled or turned away.
For more information about our vaccine distribution plans, please visit our Vaccines page. General inquiries about COVID-19 vaccine may be directed to covax@acgov.org
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The following data reflects the State’s 7-day average and 7-day lag for data reported January 17 – January 23:
- 70,334 cumulative cases
- 894 cumulative deaths
- 37.7 adjusted case rate per 100,000
- 8.6% overall test positivity rate
- 12.6% lowest HPI quartile test positivity
- 11,000+ testing 7-day average
- 404 patients currently hospitalized
- 109 patients in ICU
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Reopening Guidance
On January 28, we announced our alignment with State Guidance for School Reopening. Changes like this can occur quickly as a result of state and/or federal announcements. We update our local information as quickly as possible and encourage you to visit the links below for updated information. Schools
Workplace
Places of Worship
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Contact Investigation/Contact Tracing (CI/CT)
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At present, there are 48 outbreak investigators and 112 case investigators/contact tracers in addition to 79 staff deployed by contracted CBO partners for a total of 239 investigators. There are 22 Public Health Community Resource Team (CRT) staff. From January 13 to January 19, 22.7% of cases were reached within 24 hours, 25.2% within 48 hours, and 27.2%) were reached overall. Approximately 57 percent (57.4%) of contacts were reached during this period.
We strongly encourage our residents to activate CA Notify exposure alerts on their smartphone. By keeping Bluetooth on once activated, residents will only receive alerts if they were in close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19. Privacy is protected, identity is not known, and the location is not tracked.
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The Crushing the Curve youth engagement contest invited Bay Area young people to create a film or art project using the theme, “My Reason for Wearing a Face Covering.” First place was awarded to Elaine Zhong, Irvington High School, Fremont. View the video here: “Wisdom.”Crushing the Curve is a San Francisco Bay Area campaign that helps young adults and their families stay healthy and connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin, San Francisco, and Santa Clara Counties are currently participating in the campaign.
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