San Jose City Councilmembers received updates on coronavirus vaccine outreach programs and discussed the lack of vaccine distribution among Hispanic communities during a Tuesday meeting.
Lee Wilcox, deputy city manager, presented Santa Clara County’s vaccination status and said the likelihood of returning to pre-pandemic life is highly dependent on the speed and scale of vaccination distribution.
“We're working hard to advocate for our community to receive equity-based allocation from the state,” Wilcox said during his presentation.
He said in addition to mass vaccination sites, mobile vaccine units are underway to reach homebound residents such as the elderly and other vulnerable groups.
The mobile units consist of the city’s fire department and EMT agencies delivering vaccines to homebound residents, according to a March 29 ABC7 article.
“As of [Monday], 150 of our EMTs, paramedics and San Jose Fire Department have been training for the Induction Training Program to build capacity to support the county,” Wilcox said.
Bloom Energy, a San Jose green energy company, donated another mobile vaccine unit, in hopes of further assisting those who can't leave their homes, according to a March 29 NBC Bay Area article.
Dr. Martin Fenstersheib, the county’s COVID-19 testing officer, said during a Monday news conference about 30% of residents who are vaccine eligible and over 16 have been vaccinated with at least one dose, while 20% have completed the vaccine series.
Fenstersheib also said the county will receive 71,900 doses this week, 13,900 more than last week.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced during a Tuesday news conference the state will reopen by June 15 if there is sufficient vaccine supply for Californians over 16. He also said hospitalization rates are stable and low.
“May we confidently say by June 15 that we can start to open up as business as usual, subject to ongoing mask wearing and ongoing vigilance,” Newsom said during the conference. “So this is a big day.”
District 7 Councilmember Maya Esparza said she’s concerned about the limited vaccine supply and low appointment availability in East San Jose.
“I was both happy, but also disappointed to hear the governor's announcements because I know how badly we need vaccines,” Esparza said during the meeting. “The Eastridge site is a max of I think about 1400 folks a day. [The] Vietnamese American Cultural Center [has] a max of about 400 folks a day.”
There are currently 23 vaccination sites across the county, according to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which provides free transit to the sites.
Latinx residents make up 55% of COVID-19 cases, 47% of deaths and 40% of the state’s total population, yet only 22% of the Latinx population have been vaccinated, according to Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit focused on national health issues.
“Latinos continue to be the lowest in terms of vaccination [and] the highest in terms of infection rate,” District 8 Councilmember Sylvia Arenas said during the meeting. “I don't know that we can move anywhere until we have a certain baseline for some of these [underserved] groups.”
Arenas said vaccination sites should continue being implemented in Hispanic/Latinx communities because of its effectiveness.
“When I looked at the map to see in terms of the vaccination rate, everywhere around Eastridge seemed to have a really great vaccination rate,” Arenas said. “Which means our outreach is working and the place-based strategy is also working.”
Based on councilmembers’ discussion, place-based approaches allocate vaccination sites in accessible areas for underserved communities.
A mass vaccination place-based clinic opened March 5 at the Aloha Roller Rink in East San Jose to provide vaccines to areas disproportionately affected by COVID-19, according to a March 5 county health department update.
“I'm seeing that Latinos [are] some of those vulnerable communities,” Arenas said. “[That] ensures that there's a lot of other subgroups I'm not putting a magnifying glass under that we should take a look at.”
