First COVID-19 Vaccines Arrive In Marin County

San Rafael CA

17 December, 2020

1:05 PM

Description

MARIN COUNTY, CA – Marin County hospitals and skilled nursing facilities received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday. The county received the first of Marin's allocation of 1,950 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom followed through on a Dec. 3 warning and issued a stay-at-home order for 11 Bay Area counties, including Marin, based on limited intensive care unit capacity as cases surge across the region. "This couldn't come soon enough," said Dr. Matt Willis, the county's public health officer. "Vaccinating our front-line health care workers will protect them as they manage surges in cases." The vaccine doses are the first of weekly deliveries. The first doses will be divided among three local hospitals and 13 skilled nursing facilities. At the same time, the California Department of Public Health is implementing its Regional Stay-Home Order for 11 counties in the Bay Area after the region's collective ICU capacity dipped below the 15 percent threshold, reaching 12.9 percent. The order goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, and will remain in place for a minimum of three weeks, contingent on CDPH projections of whether the region's ICU capacity will return to and stay above the 15 percent threshold. In Marin, hospitals are switching from normal to surge plan operations because of increased COVID-19 cases and stretched staffing in ICU units. ICU units in Marin hospitals reached full, pre-surge capacity on Tuesday. ICU capacity, as reported, reflects the normally staffed and immediately available beds. "There is still room for people needing critical care, but this is the start of true hospital surge for Marin," Willis said. "It's critical that we see the link between our everyday behavior and our health care system — the transmission happening in the community is driving hospitalizations. With this surge, the state is moving toward even tighter restrictions for community and businesses to follow to help stabilize the curve." Marin has 29 ICU beds that can be staffed under normal operations, according to Marin County Public Health. The next step is considered surge operations, at which hospitals implement or consider: physicians assessing all ICU patients to determine whether/when it is appropriate and safe to promote patients out of the ICU; nursing staffs being asked on a voluntary basis to work extra shifts beyond their usual assignments; and additional nurses being pulled in from rapid response teams and break/relief nurse lists. The stay-at-home order that goes into effect Thursday night replaces Marin's voluntary adoption of the order, extending beyond the original Jan. 4 end date. In addition, some industries will be held to tighter standards under the state's interpretation of the order. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control's key steps to fight the pandemic includes protection of high-risk groups and health care workers, identifying and isolating cases, and tracing and quarantining people who have been in contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients. Everyone is advised to wear face coverings, avoid gatherings, postpone travel, and stay home whenever possible.