The bad news is that COVID-related deaths are at an all-time high; the good news is that new case rates have dropped significantly, as are the numbers of patients now hospitalized with COVID or in intensive-care units. With this in mind, public health czars Dr. Henning Ansorg and Dr. Van Do-Reynoso expressed apprehension and concern about the prospect of large group celebrations taking place during this Sunday’s Super Bowl game between the Buccaneers and the Chiefs. Ansorg, the county’s Public Health Officer, cautioned against turning “Super Bowl Sunday into Super Spreader Sunday.” Do-Reynoso preached the gospel of keeping such gatherings small (no more than three households), short (no more than two hours), and outside.
In the meantime, they urged patience for those who might be frustrated and anxious about the slow pace of vaccination. The supply of new vaccines, Do-Reynoso stated, was small. Scheduling first and second shots for everyone eligible, she stated, was logistically challenging when county Public Health administrators had little idea from week to week how many new doses they might get.
In an attempt to put the enormity of the challenge into proper perspective, Ansorg conjured what had to be the ultimate math problem from hell. Santa Barbara County has 36,000 people age 75 and older and 26,000 health-care workers — both of which have been placed in the highest priority. In Santa Barbara, 75 percent of the seniors and 50 percent of the health-care workers have opted to receive their vaccines. Given that each of these requires two vaccines, Ansorg added, that means that tier needs 80,000 doses. Given that the county is getting 6,000 new doses a week, he said it will take about six more weeks before this tier is completely vaccinated.