Hello,
Imagine’s final vaccine clinic will be March 18 from 10AM!
This is the fourteenth weekly COVID update. Today’s newsletter will focus on:
- Our final vaccine clinic
- The situation in Santa Cruz County and at Imagine
- Information about vaccines, vaccine availability and vaccination
- The next phase in the pandemic
Final Clinic. Anyone who received their first vaccine dose on the 4th but missed the one on the 25th for or who got the first dose then, should get their second shot at Imagine on March 18th. This clinic is also available to anyone in Phase 1(a) who has had their first shot of the Pfizer vaccine but not the second. If you are getting a second shot, please complete the vaccine consent form. Forms can be printed out and dropped off at the office, or filled in and emailed as a PDF to Patty (we ask for all forms to be submitted in advance). The Clinic ID for March 18 is CI266164. Because nearly all of our clients have been vaccinated and we cannot give first shots at this clinic, we are expecting only about 20 people. For that reason, we are shortening the clinic time probably to two hours beginning at 10AM.
Current Situation: Nearly everyone Imagine serves and 50 or more employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. We have no known active cases. Only two employees were quarantined last week and only one is quarantined this week. Things have definitely gotten better and we appreciate the sacrifices all of you are making to keep it that way. Only two people Imagine serves are not expected to be vaccinated, all but one of the rest have completed their vaccination series and, as of this coming Thursday, will be presumed immune. The final client is expected to have her second shot on the 18th.
New cases in Santa Cruz County started dropping again last week and remain below the most recent surge but above where they were when the winter surge started. The explanations for the holiday surge in cases and the many deaths it caused had to do with new variants, reduced caution and the already high prevalence in the community. Two of those conditions exist here and now. The reduced caution is the thing that is largely in our control. If we stay focused, we may be able to put this pandemic behind us soon. If we return even to the constrained liberty of the holidays, we can keep this pandemic around a lot longer. Please stay diligent.
Getting vaccinated
Santa Cruz County has provided this document which has a slew of alternative sources as well as how to start the process. If you need evidence that you belong in Phase 1(a) we have produced this letter for employees and this letter for clients of Imagine.
I received my series through Kaiser Permanente and the process was efficient and painless. Imagine employees are in Phase 1(a) and should be able to get vaccinated now from a variety of sources.
San Andreas Regional Center is planning to host a vaccine clinic next week at its Watsonville office. If you would like to get the vaccine there, please email me.
The next phase of the pandemic: The Novel Coronavirus is much less dangerous to vaccinated people than what we’re used to. But we still don’t know how contagious vaccinated people can become and most of society still hasn’t had the vaccine or the disease. We don’t yet know how well the current vaccines work on the new variants.
However, we recognize that the sacrifices people have made to save lives might feel less worthwhile as the danger declines. We are working through some changes to our protocols that will mainly affect employees we know to have completed their vaccine series (plus a 1-2 week waiting period) who serve individuals who have also completed their vaccine series (plus the 1-2 week etc. etc.) There will be individualized decisions to make but we don’t want to unnecessarily impose on people beyond what the science say is necessary.
We hope to circulate the revised protocol with this newsletter’s next edition 3/15.
If you have been vaccinated outside of Imagine’s clinics, or get vaccinated in the future, you have no duty to tell us. But it really helps with our risk assessments. We want to get to the freer, better life that awaits us all as soon as you can safely. If you don’t mind, please share your vaccination status with either Patty or me, ideally with a copy of your vaccine record.
As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Be well, stay well and thank you for all you’ve done to get us through a year of pandemic,
Doug