Marin Leader

City of Novato issued the following announcement on Dec. 16.

As Bay Area nurses, doctors and other health care workers caring for COVID-19 patients receive the first, small batches of a rigorously tested vaccine, the region’s Public Health Officers see hope: We now have a critical tool to help fight this pandemic.

These vaccinations in acute care hospital settings follow a federal and state framework adopted locally that will also soon protect those living in skilled nursing facilities, settings where elderly, vulnerable members of our communities are more likely to have severe illness and die from COVID-19.

As vaccine supplies grow to eventually include other groups, the Bay Area’s Public Health Officers and federal officials believe these safe and effective vaccines will work in tandem with the daily habits and essential public health work that will ultimately end the pandemic.

Those key steps to fight the pandemic include public health work to protect high-risk groups and health care workers, identifying and isolating cases, and tracing and quarantining contacts. For the public, that means wearing face coverings, avoiding gatherings, postponing travel, and staying home whenever possible.

“As an epidemiologist, I know how lucky we are that COVID-19 is a vaccine preventable disease, and widespread vaccination is the final piece of the puzzle,” said Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County Health Officer. “The development and distribution of a rigorously tested, effective vaccine just one year after this virus first emerged is a testament to science, our guide throughout this pandemic.”

The 12 health officers for the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and the City of Berkeley support the state's vaccine distribution guidelines, which now prioritize health care workers in acute care facilities. Each jurisdiction will use that roadmap to implement the distribution of vaccines in this first phase, which may take several months as supplies increase. Vaccines for the general public may be available by early summer.

All the region’s health officers plan to take the vaccine when the opportunity comes.

These early doses of the COVID-19 vaccine come amid an unprecedented surge of cases regionally and statewide. As hospitals’ intensive care units near capacity, stay home orders are either in place or anticipated soon throughout the region.

Original source can be found here.