FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2020
Healthcare workers and skilled nursing facility residents will be first to receive the vaccine.
Santa Clara County, CA – The County of Santa Clara received its first 5,850 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine today, providing a glimmer of hope in the long fight to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the community. This delivery is the first of the initial 17,550 doses allocated to Santa Clara County by the State of California, 230 of which will go to San Benito County per the state’s direction. The remaining doses in the allocation will ship from the manufacturer directly to hospitals around the County and are expected to arrive later this week. These early doses will be for people in the highest risk categories, as set by the state and federal government. This includes front line healthcare workers at acute care hospitals, as well as residents and staff at skilled nursing facilities.
Although the arrival of a small number of vaccines across the state and the county brings much hope, we remain in the most dangerous phase of the pandemic, with COVID-19 spreading rapidly throughout the county, the state, and across the country. It is critical that all county residents continue to wear masks, not gather with others, continue to socially distance from anyone outside their household, and stay home as much as possible.
Distribution of the vaccine will follow the requirements from the federal and state governments, which set the sequence for groups to receive the vaccine. The County expects to soon receive additional information from the State of California about future vaccine allocation, distributions, requirements, and timelines.
The Board of Supervisors will receive updates from Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody and others regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine distribution, and other topics at its meeting today, which is set to be heard on the agenda no earlier than 1pm. The meeting and agenda can be accessed through the County’s website.
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