Weekly Roundup for May 20, 2022
Published: May 20, 2022
As the region experiences a new swell of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, including the highest infection rates in California, twelve Bay Area health officers are stressing the importance of taking safety precautions, including continued masking indoors. Bay Area counties are seeing increases in reported cases, levels of virus in sewer sheds, and hospitalizations.
Vaccines remain the best protection against severe disease and death from COVID. People who are unvaccinated in Sonoma County are 3.2 times as likely to be infected, 18.8 times more likely to be hospitalized if they get COVID and 12.8 times more likely to die than those who are vaccinated.
Today’s digest provides helpful and important updates on the following:
- Boosters authorized for ages 5-11, more free test kits available
- Local COVID-19 vaccine and testing opportunities
- Other County of Sonoma news of note
Boosters Authorized for Ages 5-11; More Free Test Kits Available
The FDA has authorized a COVID-19 booster shot for healthy 5- to 11-year-olds, for the best protection against the newest coronavirus variants. In the U.S., only the Pfizer vaccine is available for children, who receive one-third of the dose given to those 12 and older.
In addition, all Americans are now eligible for a third order of free, at-home COVID tests shipped through the U.S. Postal Service. This doubles to 16 the total number of tests available to each household. Approximately 350 million tests have been delivered.
Tests are available here:
https://www.covid.gov/tests
Local Vaccine & Testing Opportunities
Vaccination and testing clinics are being held throughout the county to serve people who do not have convenient or affordable access to healthcare providers.
As of Wednesday, 1,059,926 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Sonoma County residents with over 80 percent of the eligible population now fully vaccinated. The county is averaging about 1,726 COVID-19 tests a day, which does not include all at-home rapid tests.
There were 20 COVID-related hospitalizations in the county as of Monday. Four of those COVID patients were in ICU beds. There have been a total of 490 COVID-related deaths reported here since the start of the pandemic.
People who are unvaccinated in Sonoma County are 3.2 times as likely to be infected, 18.8 times more likely to be hospitalized if they get COVID and are 12.8 times more likely to die than those who are vaccinated.
Visit the Sonoma County Office of Education to learn about clinics for students and families:
https://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/school_staff_immunization.html
View the county’s vaccine clinics and appointment page here:
https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/vaccine-information/clinics/
Testing appointments are still recommended but more testing sites now can accommodate walk-ins.
For details or appointments at COVID-19 testing clinics, including a pop-up testing calendar, please visit:
https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/testing-and-tracing/
Residents who test positive using an at-home antigen test are urged to report the result by calling the county’s COVID hotline at (707) 565-4667 (4701 in Spanish). Anyone who needs help making a vaccination or testing appointment may also contact the hotline.
Other County of Sonoma News
Evacuation exercises planned in Sonoma Valley and Cazadero neighborhoods
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/evacuation-exercises-planned-in-sonoma-valley-and-cazadero-neighborhoods
Planning Commission to review draft Winery Events Ordinance on May 19
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/planning-commission-to-review-draft-winery-events-ordinance-on-may-19
Sonoma, Bay Area counties release preliminary homelessness count statistics
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/sonoma-bay-area-counties-release-preliminary-homelessness-count-statistics
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