By Jondi Gumz
With new cases, hospitalizations and positivity test rate for Covid-19 plummeting statewide and locally two years after the pandemic began, the debate over masks in schools — yes or no — is not over.
The state Department of Public Health reports hospitalizations down from 15,000 at the peak of the Omicron surge in January to 2,200, and test positivity, 23% in January, is 1.4%.
Santa Cruz County has 13 hospitalizations, including 3 in intensive care, 900 active cases, down from 10,000 at the peak, and four more deaths, bringing the total to 256.
The latest deaths involved people 75 and older, all with underlying conditions.
Dignity Health Dominican Hospital recognized frontline workers for their dedication by lighting up the front of the hospital blue.
On March 15, registered nurses at Sutter Health picketed at 15 facilities in the state including the Santa Cruz VNA, to show their frustration with contract negotiations since June 2021 and “little to no movement on key issues.”
The issues include “safe staffing,” investing in personal protective equipment required by state law; presumptive eligibility for workers’ compensation that covers infectious diseases and plans to prevent violence within the hospitals in compliance with state law.
Sutter spokeswoman Emma Dugas said, “We remain focused on reaching a shared resolution.”
“These past two years have been difficult for all of us, especially the families and loved ones of those we have lost,” said Dr. Gail Newel, Santa Cruz County health officer. “I want to thank everyone who made sacrifices — everyone who wore a mask to protect themselves and others, employees and employers who kept everyone as safe as possible, parents and students who navigated distance learning — to get us through these last two years.”
County Public Health reported:
- 335,958 PCR tests
- 122,890+ antigen tests distributed
- 535,746 doses of vaccine given
- 998,295 masks distributed
- 61 pop- up vaccination clinics
- 30,000 + calls answered by the county’s Covid-19 call center.
- 668 vaccinations to homebound individuals
Pajaro Valley Schools
Test positivity for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, which reports testing for public schools, is 1.18 percent, lower than the state rate.
The state’s guidance to schools and child care facilities: After March 11, masks are not required but are strongly recommended.
This set off a heated discussion at the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board meeting. See the superintendent’s letter and a parent’s response to the board vote in this issue.
Pajaro Valley schools, with 19,000 students, report 93 active student cases and 15 staff cases in March, the lowest in the Omicron surge.
Watsonville High School has 22 student cases, and zero staff cases.
Aptos High School has 9 student cases and zero staff cases, Aptos Junior High has 1 student case and zero staff case.
Valencia Elementary has 6 student cases and 1 staff case; Mar Vista Elementary, zero student cases and 1 staff case. Rio del Mar Elementary has 4 student cases and 2 staff cases.
High Transmission
Based on 309 new cases, Santa Cruz County is rated red — high transmission — by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so guidelines for everyone to wear a mask indoors apply.
The CDC said people with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask. Those at high risk for severe illness should talk to their healthcare provider about wearing a mask and taking other precautions.
Underlying conditions were a factor in all 17 of the most recent local deaths during the peak of the highly contagious and thought-to-be-mild Omicron variant. Fifteen people who died were 75 or older.
Fundraising is ongoing for the Pajaro Valley Health Care District Project, the local consortium seeking to buy Watsonville Community Hospital, which has 620 employees, and sharing the treatment of Covid-19 patients with Dominican Hospital.
To donate to the consortium, see www.pvhdp.org
Young Kids, What’s Next
On March 13, the chief executive of Pfizer, which made one of the vaccines, said fully vaccinated people will need a fourth shot this year.
In an interview on “Face the Nation,” on CBS, Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said a fourth dose — a second booster — is necessary.
“The protection that you are getting from the third, it is good enough, actually quite good for hospitalizations and deaths,” he said. “It’s not that good against infections, but doesn’t last very long.”
Fully vaccinated means having two shots (Pfizer or Moderna) or one Johnson & Johnson shot. All were developed for the initial Covid-19 coronavirus.
For Omicron, a booster shot is needed. Booster shots are 90 percent effective against preventing Omicron hospitalizations, according to the federal Centers of Disease Control.
The New York Times reported Pfizer will seek emergency use authorization from regulators in April for a three-shot regimen for children under 5.
Parents anxious to have shots for their younger children under 5 have been waiting for Pfizer and BioNTech to gather more data on whether a third dose produces the desired result.
Pfizer initially applied for emergency use authorization for young children for two doses.
In January, Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical adviser, said younger children will likely need three doses because two shots did not induce an adequate immune response in 2- to 4-year-olds in Pfizer’s clinical trials.
Mary Holland, president and general counsel of Children’s Health Defense, contends there is no COVID emergency for children under 5 years old.
Children have a 99.995% recovery rate, and a body of medical literature indicates that “almost zero” healthy children under 5 have died from COVID, according to Holland. She cited these studies:
- Germany: Zero deaths for children under 5.
- England and Wales: Throughout 2020 and 2021, only one child under 5 without comorbidities died from COVID. A comorbidity means one or more diseases is present along with the primary infection.
Myocarditis
In a 2022 report in the Journal of American Medical Association online, Dr. Matthew Oster of the CDC reported the government’s VAERS database received 1,991 reports of myocarditis after one dose of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine and 1,626 met the CDC’s definition for probable or confirmed myocarditis.
Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart, which can lead to clots, a stroke or heart attack.
Oster’s conclusion: “The risk of myocarditis after receiving mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines was increased across multiple age and sex strata and was highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males and young men. This risk should be considered.”
The Japanese government amended the label for mRNA COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna to add myocarditis to their list of significant “adverse drug reactions.”
Public health officials say the scientific consensus is that Covid vaccines are safe, but some are skeptical about relying on science from drug-makers, which saw profits rise in 2021. They point to the U.S. government database, https://vaers.hhs.gov/, where health care providers are to report adverse events after a vaccine.
The reporting site was created after Congress passed a law in 1986 protecting vaccine manufacturers from civil personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits resulting from vaccine injuries.
After Covid arrived, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar invoked the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, a 2005 law that allows the HHS secretary to provide legal protection to companies making or distributing critical medical supplies such as vaccines unless there’s “willful misconduct” by the company, according to a report by CNBC.
This lowers the cost of immunizations, and the protection lasts until 2024.
Dr. Pamela Popper of Ohio has sued HHS, FDA and CDC concerning vaccines for kids under 16, and hopes to get discovery, the point at which both sides can get evidence. Updates are at makeamericansfreeagain.com
Pop-up Clinic
Public health officials consider vaccinations to be the number one tool to prevent hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19.
According to County Public Health, and the most recent three deaths were unvaccinated along with being older and having underlying conditions. The county website now lists vaccination status as “yes” or “no.”
The most COVID fatalities in the county occurred in January 2021, when vaccines were not available and 22 people died in one week, according to the county Covid-19 dashboard.
California reports 83.6% of residents age 5 and up have had at least one shot.
On the CDC Covid tracker, Santa Cruz County reports 93% of residents age 12 and up have at least one shot and 84.9% fully vaccinated, little changed from two weeks ago. The county closed the vaccination site at Felton Community Hall after giving 2,000 vaccinations there.
La Princesa Food Market,1424 Freedom Blvd., Watsonville, will host a pop-up vaccine clinic in the parking lot, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 19.
The Watsonville Vaccine Center has vaccines available for walk-ins at 250 Main St., Watsonville, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Proposed Bills
To track the Covid-19 bills proposed by California lawmakers see https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
AB 1993: To mandate vaccines for all employees and independent contractors — and require employers to verify their workers are immunized.
Senate Bill 1479: To mandate Covid testing plans and require the California Department of Public Health to help school districts develop them.
Senate Bill 871: To end a personal belief exemption in the state’s student vaccine mandate.
Senate Bill 866: To allow children 12 and older to get COVID vaccines without parental consent.
Omicron Less Deadly
The assumption is Omicron, the most easily transmissible variant of the Covid-19 coronavirus, quickly drove the increase in January and the decline in February and March.
Omicron was confirmed in two cases in the county on Dec. 16 and 17.
The numbers ballooned from 325 cases confirmed on Dec. 29 to 1,265 on Jan. 20, according to the county health dashboard, which is updated twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays.
The California Department of Public Health estimates Omicron comprises 91% of cases statewide and Delta 6.5% but does not have a breakdown of Omicron hospitalizations or deaths.
Not all COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization are sequenced, and the proportion of cases due to the Omicron variant that die is still being determined.
Omicron is less deadly than Delta, which raged in 2021.
Santa Cruz County reports 256 Covid deaths, up from 225 as of Dec. 15, before Omicron.
One statistic is similar: 79% to 81% of those who died had pre-existing conditions.
Why do people fear Omnicron?
They may have a pre-existing condition (diabetes, obesity, asthma, high blood pressure).
Half of Americans do, so they are at higher risk for severe Covid illness.
So are people 85 and older.
Some people who got Covid experience “long Covid,” with fatigue and brain fog months afterward. A 2022 study in the journal Cell by researchers following more than 200 patients found many acute Covid patients had low cortisol, which could be addressed.
Testing
Santa Cruz County Office of Education, with Inspire Diagnostic, has provided 367,300 tests.
Cases peaked at 4,407 on Jan. 27, dropping to 145 on March 15. The 14-day positivity rate, 12.25% a month ago, is down to 1.18%.
The County Office of Education offers drive-though testing for students, staff and families at these locations:
Cabrillo College, Aptos, Parking Lot K, Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 E. Lake Ave., Watsonville, Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Santa Cruz County Office of Education, 399 Encinal St., Santa Cruz, Monday to Friday, 2 to 5 p.m.
Hundreds of school staff have rapid response antigen tests, courtesy of the County Office of Education, and schools are distributing more for home use.
Directions are posted at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U8AdsSyH14sDvrjD6T25krhvOFRFsuXs/view
For test options see: https://tinyurl.com/get-tested-santa-cruz.
Shorter Isolation
Based on federal recommendations, the state shortened the isolation time for those testing positive from 10 days to five days.
Schedule booster shots at https://myturn.ca.gov/ or by asking your local doctor and pharmacies. For local vaccine providers, visit www.santacruzhealth.org/coronavirusvaccine.
For help scheduling an appointment, call the Community Bridges Helpline at 831-219-8607 or 831-440-3556 (English, Spanish, Mixteco and Triqui).
For local information on COVID-19, go to www.santacruzhealth.org/coronavirus or call (831) 454-4242 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
•••
Total COVID cases: 900
•••
COVID Deaths: 256
As of March 16
Age
85 and older: 109 • 75-84: 61 • 65-74: 44 • 60-64: 15 • 55-59: 4 • 45-54: 10 • 35-44: 8 • 25-34: 5
Underlying Conditions
Yes: 207 • No: 49
Race
White 146 • Latinx 89 • Asian 16 • Black 2 • Amer Indian 1 • Hawaiian 1 • Another 1
Gender
Men: 132 • Women: 124
Location
At facility for aged: 115 • Not at a facility: 141