For the many Humboldt residents who are still awaiting a COVID-19 vaccine, you’ve probably heard that vaccines are only available to people 65 and older, or those who have jobs or health conditions that qualify them. But the Outpost was surprised to learn today that Open Door Community Health Centers have already begun vaccinating patients who are 55 and over.
Reached by the phone this afternoon, Arielle Manoli — office manager for Open Door Community Health Centers — confirmed that the clinics made COVID-19 vaccines available to patients age 55 and up starting on Wednesday.
If you are an Open Door patient, you may have already heard this news — notifications were sent out through MyChart on Wednesday, Manoli said, and staff is currently in the process of contacting eligible patients by phone.
So, how is this vaccine expansion possible? The answer is pretty simple. Open Door currently has more vaccines available than it has patients 65+, who have still not been vaccinated. Manoli said that as more vaccines have become available through pharmacies or through mass vaccine clinics, Open Door staff was finding that many of their patients had already been vaccinated someplace else.
“As we were moving through the 65 and up tier, we were actually having a hard time filling the spots,” Manoli said. “We communicated [to Public Health] that we had enough supply and enough availability to offer to another population and their recommendation was to drop down to 55 and up.”
Manoli said that it will probably take some time for Open Door to contact all the eligible patients, so if you’re seeing this and you are over 55, then you should call your home clinic to book an appointment. Open Door is currently administering the vaccines at three of its locations: the NorthCountry Clinic in Arcata, the Telehealth & Visiting Specialist Center in Eureka and the Fortuna Community Health Center.
With the state recently announcing an increase in vaccine supply and plans to distribute vaccinations to 50+ individuals starting April 1 and everyone over 16 shortly thereafter, many people are hopeful that they won’t have to wait much longer. But, Manoli said, this does not necessarily mean that Humboldt County will see that expansion right away, depending on how quickly Public Health receives vaccine supply.
“It’s a balancing act between what the CDC is allowing and the amount of vaccines that are coming into the county,” she said.
And if you’re an Open Door patient who is not in one of the eligible groups, you don’t need to just sit around and wait for a vaccine. Manoli encourages you to call and be put on the waitlist. If Open Door has extra doses, staff will contact people from that list, so that doses don’t go to waste.
Feel like maybe the information you’ve seen about vaccines is a little inconsistent? Well, Manoli says you’re not alone. “Open Door is as transparent as we can be, but it is hard,” she said. “It feels like you can get a lot of different information, depending on where you look. I would encourage people to call their primary care provider if they have any questions.”
Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:
Humboldt County Public Health and other approved local vaccinators have administered a total of 49,378 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday, March 23.
The Vaccine Data section of the Humboldt County Data Dashboard has been updated. Some highlights include:
18,804 Humboldt County residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which represents 13.8% of the county’s total population and 16.7% of residents age 16 or over who qualify for vaccination currently.
Nearly 1 in 4 or 23.4% of county residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, which means they have some protection against the virus.
55.3% of residents age 75 and over are fully vaccinated, and 28.5% of residents ages 65 to 74 are fully vaccinated.
To access the Dashboard, go to humboldtgov.org/Dashboard. To view vaccine data only, visit humboldtgov.org/VaccineData.
Six new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Humboldt County today, bringing to 3,432 the total number of county residents who have tested positive for the virus.
For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or calling 707-441-5000.
Some Safeway and CVS Pharmacy locations are offering COVID-19 vaccination appointments. See if there are appointments available for your age group or sector at one of these locations by clicking on the links below.
Local COVID-19 vaccine information: humboldtgov.org/VaccineInfo Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard: humboldtgov.org/Dashboard Follow us on Facebook: @HumCoCOVID19 Instagram: @HumCoCOVID19 Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19 Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert
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= historic data. All data from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center.
Data from CalREDIE. Zip codes not listed have experienced five cases or fewer. Zip code populations from the American Community Survey, 2018.
You have more vaccine questions, and Lindsey Mendez — member of the county’s Vaccine Task Force — has more vaccine answers. Addressed: State equity efforts and how they’re being implemented here, Pfizer/Moderna versus J&J, the coming contract with Blue Shield to serve as statewide vaccine administrator and more.
Video above, rough transcript below.
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Thank you for joining us for the March 11th media availability with Family Nurse
Practitioner and member of the Humboldt County Vaccine Task Force, Lindsey Mendez.
Lindsey would like to begin with a brief message about the Janssen or Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Hi Humboldt County. This is Lindsey Mendez again, the Family Nurse Practitioner in
Communicable Disease at Public Health. Today I’m going to come and talk about
vaccine and I wanted to give a little bit of an intro again about the efforts that
the public health department is doing right now with the Janssen vaccine. I would like
the community to understand that at this time the Janssen vaccine being a single shot dose
is going to be very helpful when we’re looking at rural populations who are having trouble
coming into clinics and also with persons experiencing homelessness in shelters.
We are currently partnering with our other health care providers in the area to get these vaccines
out into arms this week and next week. So we’re very excited.
From North Coast News: The health officer said earlier this week that some zip codes
that fall in the lowest percentage of the CA healthy places index are in Humboldt
and will be prioritized by the state in terms of vaccine allocation. Where are
these zip codes located? How is this impacting our weekly vaccine allocation from the state?
Yes. At this time the state is using allocation tools to look at how we can have better equity in
areas of certain zip codes. In this equity mapping, they are recommending that we use 20% of
our doses in certain regions of Humboldt County. With that said, the regions are very broad. Around
the county it is in areas where we are already vaccinating mostly. We are trying to get more into
the Southern Humboldt and eastern regions, but overall the zip codes do include Eureka, Arcata
and then parts of SoHum like Petrolia and Blocksburg and then in the northern regions
like Klamath. So we will be working on that, just as we’ve been doing with our clinics.
From North Coast News: A new Israeli study shows that it appears Pfizer is more effective
than first thought. Might this be the case for the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson?
How was J&J able to get the level of efficacy in one shot?
The way that the Janssen vaccine is created with a DNA vaccine which is an adenovirus vector vaccine
and the way that the spike proteins are introduced into the body,
makes it a one-shot vaccine in that it builds over time and at this time it is
not necessary to have a booster dose. And I will say this again: the Johnson Johnson
builds slowly over weeks when you have it, which is a little different than the mRNA vaccine,
but it still is a hundred percent reducing the severe death and hospitalization from COVID-19.
With the Pfizer vaccine and the Israeli research that’s been occurring, because they have been
studying transmission, really what we’re talking about with the Pfizer is that they are reporting
how they are comparing the cases between the fully vaccinated and those who hadn’t been vaccinated
at all and looking at how effective it was for preventing the transmission of COVID-19. This
study was showing 90% at that time. So with that, you must understand that the research is still
occurring with Moderna and Janssen and we will be getting more information as we move forward.
From North Coast News: Alaska has now become the first state to open vaccine eligibility
to 16 years old. Do you think the criteria for getting the shot will change soon in California?
How big of a benefit is it to expand eligibility to a younger age?
I understand that Alaska at this time has expanded their population and the state of California is
looking at April 1st as a date that we will be expanding the population and who can be vaccinated
in what tier. With that said I should remind the public that the Pfizer vaccine can be given to 16
year-olds, but no other vaccine such as Moderna or Janssen is approved for this at this time.
With that said we will also remind the public that even if it does open up for
a greater range of ages and occupations, we will be looking at risk factors
and age as people are waiting to be vaccinated in California.
From North Coast Journal: Has the county received any more clarity from Blue Shield
or the state regarding how vaccine allocation and distribution are likely to change
once Blue Shield takes over as the third party administrator next month?
The public health department is currently doing meetings with Blue Shield and we are talking to
our allocations managers and account managers who will be helping us with the allocation
process in Humboldt County specifically for the providers in this area who will be giving vaccine.
That allocation process will be going through Blue Shield to each provider who is able to
give vaccine in Humboldt County – I should specifically say the COVID-19 vaccine in
Humboldt County – and we will also be contracting in the public health department with Blue Shield
so that we can be distributing vaccine through them. With that said, we do not know exactly how
they are going to be breaking down their allocation process with the local health
jurisdictions and also with providers and we will be knowing more in the next couple weeks.
From North Coast Journal: How does the state putting a focus on vaccinating
residents in the lowest quartile of Healthy Places Index zip codes
change Humboldt County’s vaccination strategy? How is the county working to identify
and prioritize residents in these zip codes who qualify for the vaccine?
This is a great question and happily we have been working on these equity plans since the
beginning of the vaccination task force when COVID-19 vaccine was arriving in Humboldt County.
So, for the past few months we have been opening clinics in areas to ensure equity. We’ve been
giving vaccine to clinics in Willow Creek and Garberville and in Redway. We’ve been doing
mass vaxes in Arcata and in Eureka to ensure that we can reach populations that we wouldn’t usually
get. We are anxious to expand our clinics in the southern and eastern regions and even in the
northern regions to get populations who may have transportation issues. So we’re excited to see as
we partner with Blue Shield how this will move forward with their performance equity measures.
From the North Coast Journal: Public Health reported this week that a quarter of those
currently eligible have now been fully vaccinated locally. At the same time, the county announced a
new class of eligible people — those 65 and older — with food and agricultural workers and people
with co-morbidities expected to be eligible in the coming weeks. Are there logistic and equity
concerns with making so many people eligible for vaccinations when supply remains so limited?
If so, what are they and how is the county working to navigate those challenges?
This is a very important topic that we discuss daily on our vaccination committees.
As we open up the populations who are able to get vaccinated, as wonderful as that is
because our goal is to have herd immunity and end the pandemic, we are also very aware
that there are specific people in our population who are the most vulnerable the most fragile and
we must pay attention to that as the public health department and be good stewards of our vaccine.
We are actively working on getting vaccinations to people who may not be able to leave the
house very well or people who are experiencing homelessness and we’re also looking at how we
can best vaccinate people who work in things like agricultural or factory settings. So
this is something that we are going to continue to have active conversations about.
From North Coast Journal: If the county were to magically receive enough vaccine
doses tomorrow to vaccinate every adult Humboldt County resident,
what’s Public Health’s best estimate as to how long it would take to get all those shots in arms?
Currently, what’s the county’s top vaccinations-per-day capacity?
Right now it is very difficult to give an exact number of what the top amount of vaccination per
day would be because of the amount of providers who are helping us vaccinate in various locations
ranging from pharmacies to hospitals. What we have seen is that when we do mass vaxes – mass
vaccination clinics – around the county whether it be a public health department or other providers,
we have noticed that our max capacity is a little over a thousand at this time for a mass vax
clinic. With that said, other people usually daily are vaccinating in other areas at a smaller scale.
From KMUD: Can you speak to the different efficacy rates of all 3 approved vaccines?
Yes. At this time the CDC is telling us that the Pfizer vaccine is at 95% effective,
the Moderna is at 94% effective and the Janssen is at 67%.
From KMUD: What is currently being done to ensure our Latinx community is receiving vaccinations?
The Humboldt County Public Health Department finds the Latinx community to
be of the highest priority at this time. As I said last week we are actively recruiting
people to work at our clinic who can speak Spanish and be interpreters
and they can be vaccinators or admin or other staff that is necessary to run a vaccination
clinic. I would like to reassure the community that public health is having many meetings at
this time with community stakeholders to help us vaccinate everybody equally in Humboldt County.
From KMUD: Who are the preferred recipients of the single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine?
Because of the recommendations by the CDC for how we might use a single-dose vaccine the best,
at this time we have decided to utilize the vaccine with persons who may have
transportation issues, they may not be able to see a doctor readily,
or persons who work in certain facilities like agricultural centers and factories.
From Red Headed Blackbelt: Can you give us an update on how the vaccinations are being
distributed in reference to the local survey that many people have returned,
is the survey proving useful in helping to coordinate vaccine appointments?
Yes absolutely. From the information that I have been receiving from the Joint Information Center,
the interest forms and surveys that have been filled out have been helping them fill clinics
and getting people on wait lists. It’s also helped close the divide between those who
may not have devices and need some assistance with scheduling. The Joint Information Center
would like to remind you that you can go on their website at any time to look for the interest form
in both English and Spanish at humboldtgov.org and again if you are having trouble you can call them.
From Red Headed Blackbelt: Has the public health
department been receiving feedback from community members related to
the recently announced planned closure of Redwood Memorial labor and delivery unit?
Thank you Kym, but no, that is not a vaccine question and I’m unable to answer that today.
Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:
A total of 3,219 Humboldt County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 after nine new cases were reported today.
Humboldt County Public Health continues to scale up COVID-19 vaccination clinics as vaccine supply allows. To prepare for an anticipated increase in vaccine allocation and assist planning for future mass-vaccination efforts, Public Health vaccinated 1,000 county residents in about eight hours at a single clinic last week. This week, Public Health and local health care partners are expected to administer 2,300 doses at five large-scale clinics in addition to doses administered directly by local approved vaccinators to their patients.
The California Department of Public Health today reported that Humboldt County has accumulated a week of metrics to move to a more restrictive tier under the state’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” with a positivity rate of 3.0% and an adjusted case rate of 8.2 per 100,000 residents. That means if local virus data does not improve, the county could be reassigned to the “Purple” or Widespread tier as early as next week. Health officials urge residents to limit the spread of COVID-19 by recommitting to prevention measures, adding that these measures support businesses staying open and protect the health of the community.
For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or calling 707-441-5000.
Local COVID-19 vaccine information: humboldtgov.org/vaccineinfo Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard: humboldtgov.org/dashboard Follow us on Facebook: @HumCoCOVID19 Instagram: @HumCoCOVID19 Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19 Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert
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= historic data. All data from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center.
Data from CalREDIE. Zip codes not listed have experienced five cases or fewer. Zip code populations from the American Community Survey, 2018.
When asked about the irregular methods Humboldt County people are using to get vaccine — showing up at a hospital and waiting in line without an appointment, for example, or scoring a dubious appointment through a friend — Dr. Ian Hoffman, Humboldt County’s health officer, said that Public Health is not in the business of policing whether or not local providers are following his own guidelines about who should be vaccinated at this stage of the pandemic and who should not yet be.
“Certainly some individuals are going to extreme measures to get vaccinated out of order,” Hoffman said. “We’ve said often that’s we’re not going to try to police that to a degree that slows down this process.”
That, plus questions on variants, the county’s new vaccination statistics, the return of sports, and opening up to people with co-morbidities — we still don’t have enough supply for that, Hoffman says — in today’s media availability.
Video above, rough transcript below.
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From the Times-Standard: The number of total doses administered is 26,789 on the county’s
dashboard but the number of individuals fully and partially partially vaccinated only adds
up to 19,415. Can you explain the discrepancy?
Sure, we’ve put on a dashboard that the number of individuals who are either partially or
fully vaccinated.
So if you take the individuals who are fully vaccinated, they receive two doses, so you’d
have to multiply that number by two and add the two numbers together, you’ll come up with
the full number.
From the Times-Standard: Does the county know if any residents of skilled nursing facilities
still need to be vaccinated?
Yeah, the skilled nursing facilities have mostly gone through the first two rounds of the partnership,
the CDC partnership, the third round for many of them are coming up this week, so that will
be their last visit, so there are some folks who are going to get their first shot in that
last visit, and then we’re working with the skilled nursing facilities and long-term care
facilities for a long-term plan of continuing to vaccinate any new residents who come in
and need to be vaccinated.
From the Times-Standard: Is the county making any safety recommendations for spectators
and outdoor prep sports events now that team sports have been allowed to resume?
So spectators are not allowed at any events for youth or adults.
What is allowed for the youth sports are age appropriate supervision, so an adult or potentially
multiple adults depending on the situation and the age, who could be there obviously
to supervise the the youth, but also transport them, be there in case of an injury something
like that, so we’re working closely with HCOE and Humboldt-Del Norte League to you know
define what that age appropriate supervision is and also I’m looking for clarification
from CDPH for more specifics on that.
From the Times-Standard: With athletes in high contact sports required to be tested
for COVID-19 weekly, is the county helping schools or HDNL participants acquire testing
kits?
Which agencies are responsible for acquiring testing kits for high schools and their athletes?
So we’ve been working closely with HCOE for testing in the schools and that testing can
also be extended to athletes at those schools.
There are also potentials for athletes to get tested through Optum site at Redwood Acres,
they could go to their private physician and there are two different types of tests that
can be offered.
There’s the PCR test, we’re also working with HCOE to implement antigen testing for schools
and then potentially for athletes as well.
From the Times-Standard: How long have HSU athletics and the county been planning for
their return to competition? How did HSU and the county collaborate on developing the athletic department’s return
to participation process?
So collegiate athletics is governed by NCAA and they have a set of regulations similar
to the way CDPH has put forth regulations for youth and adult recreational sports, so
HSU has you know reviewed those and submitted a plan to Public Health for our review and
we collaborated and discussed those and so it’s been a collaborative process.
From the Times-Standard: Is the county helping HSU obtain testing kits for its frequent testing
requirements?
Yes we are supporting HSU in their testing.
From the Times-Standard: The dashboard currently states 3,151 is the total number of Humboldt
County residents who have tested positive for the virus. Are there any residents who have contracted COVID-19 more than once?
We’re not aware of anyone who’s contracted COVID more than once in Humboldt County.
There are very rare cases of this across the the globe.
There are a few people who’ve tested positive twice within a 90-day period but didn’t have
a re-infection and those are removed from the count.
From reporter Daniel Mintz: How likely do you think it is that the variant with the
L452R mutation will be categorized as a variant of concern?
I think more studies needed to determine that and so currently it remains as a variant of
interest.
From reporter Daniel Mintz: What is the scale of testing at this point?
We definitely know testing’s down both here in Humboldt County and statewide.
We have the capacity to test much much more, so continue to encourage people to get tested
and utilize that testing ability so that we can you know stay safe and hopefully continue
to stay in less restrictive tiers.
From the Redwood News: You’ve mentioned before that the next group eligible for a COVID-19
vaccine includes food and agriculture workers. Can you go into detail about who exactly falls into this category locally?
Does this include grocery store workers, restaurant workers? Also are you able to give the community any update on when that phase is expected to open up?
So yes, all those people mentioned fall into the food and agriculture workers, it also
includes the production side, so people who produce food you know both on a farm or in
a warehouse, large scale kitchens, there’s a huge, it runs the gamut.
I think that just like every phase that we’ve opened and how we open it, it will depend
entirely on the amount of vaccine that we have, so we’re hopeful that with Johnson and
Johnson coming in the coming weeks that we could see an expansion of the number of vaccines
that we’re getting each week.
We also know that the federal government has continued to promise to send more.
It looks like that is actually starting to happen in the next few weeks, so when we have
enough vaccine we’ll open up to more tiers.
From the Redwood News: The state has released guidance about opening up vaccine eligibility
to people 16 to 64 years old with certain medical conditions starting March 15th.
How exactly will this guidance be implemented locally? Does the county have enough supply or anticipate having enough supply to open up vaccinations to this larger group of people starting on that date?
I think it’s unlikely that we will have enough to cover everyone by the middle of March,
so it’ll be you know how it’s continued to be, which is when we open up to one group
we, you know, understand that there will be a waiting period for for some of those people.
But as it’s been the whole time we have to you know sort of time these openings so that
we don’t have too small of an eligibility pool, that we have vaccine appointments that
go unfilled, and and balance that with you know keeping the field broad enough that those
people can get, or sorry, narrow enough that those people can get an appointment.
As far as how it’s gonna work um we have been in discussions with the medical groups around
Humboldt County and for people who have medical conditions it’s you know most likely that
we’ll be working with medical providers to have them call those patients in based on
their medical records and doing outreach and then have some sort of referral system to
allow for people who don’t have access to a vaccination site through their primary care
provider or who don’t have insurance or or don’t have a primary primary care provider
here in Humboldt County to be able to be referred to a vaccination site.
From the Redwood News: CDPH has indicated they’ll be shifting to an age-based vaccination
plan after Phase 1B Tier 1. What does this shift or change mean for Humboldt County’s vaccination plan moving forward?
Are there or will there be any impacts on Phase 1B that is currently open?
There shouldn’t be any impacts on Phase 1B.
We’re going to continue to finish that off and you know in terms of what the shift means
it really means that after those occupations in Phase 1B, that everyone will be going through
the line based on their age and those will open up, we’re being told statewide, all at
the same time.
So that’s what we anticipate and we’ll be looking forward to.
From the North Coast News: A viewer messaged us recently concerned about cancelled vaccine
clinics due to vaccine shipments delayed by inclement weather.
Have all the people scheduled for those clinics been contacted to register for another clinic?
Has anyone missed their second dose of the vaccine due to those cancellations?
So Public Health has reached out to everyone who had their Public Health clinics cancelled
due to this delay.
We do recognize that some people were delayed in getting that second dose on time, but it
should still fall within the realm of acceptable based on the CDC guidelines.
From the North Coast News: Where does the county currently stand on allowing organized
youth and adult sports? Will the county be following the guidance issued by the CDPH or will you be setting
more strict requirements?
We are following the CDPH guidance that was set out last Friday and goes into effect tomorrow
and I would think that it’s really solid guidance and look forward to seeing youth and adult
sports getting back into action.
From the North Coast News: Where is the county currently at in terms of vaccinating the local
homeless population? What outreach if any has the county employed to contact elderly members of the homeless
population who may not be aware of their eligibility status?
We’ve been in planning meetings with homeless advocacy organizations to address these communities.
We have plans in place to begin vaccination of you know age-appropriate individuals in
that population and also working to you know try to vaccinate more broadly in the homeless
population once vaccine becomes more available.
From the North Coast News: Has Public Health considered prioritizing vulnerable populations
more at risk for contracting the virus like those experiencing homelessness and incarcerated
people, or will people in those groups have to wait until their age group is prioritized?
So incarcerated individuals are those who are in prison, are handled by the state Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The staff who work in our local jails have been vaccinated, we have been in talks with
the jails about a potential vaccination plan for that population and I think this group
is definitely vulnerable and we recognize that and we want to vaccinate them, you know
we are just waiting for more vaccine to make that happen.
From the Lost Coast Outpost: By this point many or most people in Humboldt have heard
several first-hand stories of friends and neighbors getting the vaccine through unofficial
channels, for example by showing up and waiting in line at a clinic or hospital or be by being
put on a waitlist for extra doses through friends who work at such places.
Many people acquiring the vaccine in this way are not over 70 or over 65 and they’re
not employed in healthcare or education or emergency services this happens often enough
that some people believe that there are loopholes in the county’s guidelines and that if you
can put in time and effort or if you know someone you can get vaccinated now even if
your tier is not up. Can you convince them that this is not the case?
We are in the business of getting people vaccinated and so we are trying to do that in an orderly
fashion and as quickly and seamlessly as possible with the focus on the right populations at
the right time.
Certainly some individuals are going to extreme measures to get vaccinated out of order.
We’ve said often that’s we’re not going to try to police that to a degree that slows
down this process.
We encourage individuals and groups of individuals to follow this process and I think it’ll you
know go much more smoothly and we, you know we hope to be able to open up more broadly
to to other groups in the near future and we’ll continue to do so as vaccine allows.
From the Redheaded Blackbelt: Earlier this month Humboldt County announced that they
would begin reporting the number of antigen test results each weekday on the dashboard.
The number reported has remained at 13 for some time now. Are antigen tests not being used, or are there no positives, or is the dashboard not being updated?
The dashboard continues to get updated on a daily basis.
For a while there have not been any positive antigen tests, which is not surprising given
the drop in the test positivity rate, I do think they’re still being used, I know they’re
being used in many settings, so we’ll we’ll continue to watch that and I think you know
going forward the other things they might be used more often say in schools or other
surveillance settings, with the the sports leagues that are starting up, so we might
see that go up but again it’s because of the decrease in test positivity overall that we’re
seeing that number go down.
Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:
A total of 3,124 Humboldt County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 after 57 new cases have been reported since Friday.
Recent reports from local providers indicate that some patients seeking care for mild cold- or allergy-like symptoms test positive for COVID-19. Health officials point out that many people who contract the virus will experience mild symptoms, which makes it more likely an infected person will pass the virus along to others before they realize they’re sick and possibly expose someone who could be more prone to complications.
Public Health officials renewed their call for community members to get tested regularly, saying anyone who thinks they have a cold, food poisoning or allergies should isolate and get tested for COVID-19. For a full list of no-cost testing options, go to humboldtgov.org/COVIDTestRegistration.
Humboldt County Public Health, in partnership with local approved vaccinators, is planning three large-scale vaccination clinics this week where approximately 2,500 vaccines are expected to be administered. Of those, 1,500 are scheduled as second doses and 1,000 as first doses. Vaccination is available by appointment to people age 70 and over, health care workers, K-12 educators and support staff, emergency services workers and licensed child care providers. County residents can be notified when an appointment is available for their age group by filling out the online COVID-19 Vaccine Interest Form.
To complete the Interest Form in English, visit humboldtgov.org/InterestForm.
Para completar el formulario de interés de vacunas en español, visite humboldtgov.org/formulariadeinteres.
For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or calling 707-441-5000.
Local COVID-19 vaccine information: humboldtgov.org/vaccineinfo Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard: humboldtgov.org/dashboard Follow us on Facebook: @HumCoCOVID19 Instagram: @HumCoCOVID19 Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19 Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert
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= historic data. All data from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center.
Data from CalREDIE. Zip codes not listed have experienced five cases or fewer. Zip code populations from the American Community Survey, 2018.
Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:
A total of 2,976 Humboldt County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, after 16 additional cases were reported today.
As of Monday, Feb. 8, Humboldt County has been allocated 20,960 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, including Pfizer and Moderna. Because a sixth dose can often be extracted from each vial of the Pfizer vaccine, Public Health and other approved local vaccinators have maximized the state’s allocation and administered a total of 21,230 doses.
Local health care providers who are approved to administer vaccine are reaching out to their qualifying patients directly to schedule vaccination appointments.
Public Health is using information submitted through the online Vaccine Interest Form to fill slots at its mass vaccination clinics. County residents are encouraged to fill out the form at humboldtgov.org/InterestForm to be notified when an appointment is available for their tier.
For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or calling 707-441-5000.
Local COVID-19 vaccine information: humboldtgov.org/vaccineinfo Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard: humboldtgov.org/dashboard Follow us on Facebook: @HumCoCOVID19 Instagram: @HumCoCOVID19 Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19 Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert
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= historic data. All data from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center.
Data from CalREDIE. Zip codes not listed have experienced five cases or fewer. Zip code populations from the American Community Survey, 2018.
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch in April 2019. Credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Spaceflight Now
NASA announced Tuesday it has awarded SpaceX a $331 million contract to launch the first two pieces of the Gateway lunar outpost in 2024 using a modified version of the Falcon Heavy rocket to hurl the massive core of the deep space station toward the moon.
The Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element and Habitation and Logistics Outpost will launch in tandem no earlier than May 2024 aboard the Falcon Heavy rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The $331.8 million launch services contract, awarded by NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy, includes the Falcon Heavy launch and “other mission-related costs,” the agency said in a statement. The $331 million contract value is nearly three times the price NASA is paying for a Falcon Heavy launch in July 2022 with the Psyche asteroid probe.
The PPE and the HALO modules are the first two pieces of the Gateway mini-space station, which NASA envisions will serve as a waypoint for astronauts in transit to and from the moon’s surface in the space agency’s Artemis lunar exploration program. Contributions from international partners, such as a joint European-Japanese habitation module and a Canadian robotic arm, will eventually join the Gateway in orbit around the moon, forming an outpost about one-sixth the size of the International Space Station.
The Power and Propulsion Element, built by Maxar, will be powered by large solar array wings, and will use plasma rocket jets for deep space maneuvers. It will also provide communications and attitude control for the Gateway complex. The HALO, developed by Northrop Grumman in partnership with Thales Alenia Space in Italy, will provide the initial living quarters for astronauts on the Gateway, and will have docking ports arriving and departing cargo and crew ships.
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket will haul the PPE and HALO into a high-altitude orbit around Earth. The PPE’s solar-electric thrusters will guide the stack toward the moon, where the Gateway will enter an elliptical lunar orbit to take position for the docking of Orion crew capsules with astronauts. NASA intends for human-rated lunar landers to also link up with the Gateway in orbit around the moon, and the landing craft could be refueled at the Gateway for multiple trips to and from the lunar surface.
The combined function of the HALO and Orion life support systems will sustain up to four astronauts for up to 30 days on the Gateway, according to NASA.
The Trump administration set a 2024 schedule goal for the first astronauts to return to the moon’s surface in NASA’s Artemis program. The Biden White House has said it supports the Artemis program, although the new administration has not said whether it will stick with the 2024 schedule, which was already facing stiff technical and funding headwinds before President Trump left office.
NASA decided year to launch the PPE and HALO elements on the same rocket. The decision reversed NASA’s previous Gateway acquisition strategy, which would have launched the two elements on separate rockets before they automatically docked in deep space.
Artist’s illustration of the Gateway’s PPE and HALO modules in lunar orbit. Credit: NASA
The tandem launch of the PPE and HALO sections requires a rocket with an extended payload shroud. The payload fairing currently flying on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is not long enough for the job, but SpaceX plans to introduce an extended fairing for future U.S. national security satellites, along with a new vertical integration hangar at pad 39A to enable the attachment of military payloads in a vertical orientation at the launch site.
The new fairing design and launch pad integration tower are part of a Pentagon launch services agreement SpaceX won last year. ULA won a similar Defense Department launch contract, and the two companies will share national security launch duties through 2027.
The fairing and integration building are required for SpaceX to be able to launch all of the military’s space missions, and the enlarged shroud is also an enabler for the Falcon Heavy to launch the Gateway.
SpaceX is on contract for other parts of NASA’s Artemis architecture.
The company’s Dragon XL cargo vehicle will deliver supplies to the Gateway space station. The Dragon XL missions will also launch on Falcon Heavy rockets.
A version of SpaceX’s next-generation Starship vehicle, which engineers are designing as a fully reusable rocket, could be used as a lunar lander to transport crews to and from the lunar surface. SpaceX is competing against teams led by Blue Origin and Dynetics for the full lunar lander development contract.
NASA plans to launch astronauts from Earth aboard Orion capsules flying on top of the government-owned Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket.
SpaceX has launched three Falcon Heavy rocket missions to date, all successfully, and the company has at least two more scheduled this year. With the Gateway launch contract, SpaceX has seven confirmed Falcon Heavy missions in its backlog, including two U.S. Space Force missions this year, launches of a Viasat broadband communications satellite and NASA’s Psyche asteroid explorer in 2022, and two Dragon XL cargo missions to the Gateway.
The Falcon Heavy is made up of three modified Falcon 9 first stage boosters connected together in a triple-core configuration. The rocket’s 27 Merlin main engines produce some 5.1 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, more than any other currently operational rocket.
NASA’s inspector general reported in November that the agency has spent more than $500 million on Gateway design work to date.
Despite the decision to combine the PPE and HALO onto a single launch, which NASA said would save money and simplify development, the launch of the Gateway’s power element has been delayed from December 2022 to May 2024.
“The development schedules for both the PPE and HALO have been negatively impacted by the agency’s still-evolving Gateway requirements, including NASA’s decision to co-manifest and launch the two elements on the same commercial rocket rather than separately as initially intended,” the inspector general said last year.”
The Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element and HALO habitation module will now launch together inside an extended payload fairing. Credit: NASA
The inspector general also cited the Trump administration’s 2024 schedule goal for returning astronauts to the moon, although NASA was not counting on using the Gateway for the first Artemis lunar landing mission, at least as proposed in the previous administration.
“Compounding these issues is the 2024 lunar mandate that drove the accelerated development schedule in the first place and resulted in a lack of schedule margin in the Gateway program,” the inspector general said.
NASA’s choice to co-manifest the PPE and HALO will add 10 months to the modules’ travel time to their operating post in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon, the inspector general said.
“The decision to launch the PPE and HALO together, while avoiding the cost of a second commercial launch vehicle, has contributed to cost increases due to the redesign of several components, an elevated launch risk, and a longer duration flight to lunar orbit,” the inspector general said.
Under the original Gateway launch strategy, Maxar was responsible for booking the launch for the Power and Propulsion Element. Maxar had already contracted SpaceX for the solo launch of the PPE, an agreement that the inspector general said was terminated in favor of the combined launch of the PPE and the HALO, which came with additional requirements, such as the Falcon Heavy with the extended fairing.
Maxar had already paid SpaceX $27.5 million in payments for the PPE launch contract before terminating the agreement, the inspector general said.
“In our judgment, NASA’s acceleration of the acquisition for both the PPE and HALO before fully defining the Gateway’s requirements added significant costs to the projects’ development efforts and increases the risk of future schedule delays and additional cost increases,” the inspector general said.
Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:
Sixty-five additional cases of COVID-19 have been reported since Friday. Three recently reported cases were determined to be from out of county and one was a duplicate, so the total number of county residents who have tested positive for the virus now stands at 2,815.
All datasets on the Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard have been updated. Some highlights include:
The 20-29 age group continues to represent the largest percentage of local cases at just over 24%, though the 10-19 age group saw the highest increase in cases since last week with 38 new infections.
Humboldt County’s confirmed case rate is 2,113 per 100,000 residents. The state and national rates are more than three times higher at 8,247 and 7,947 per 100,000 residents respectively.
The county has seen a 6.4% increase in cases over last week, and the case doubling time is 44 days.
Go to humboldtgov.org/dashboard to view the latest data.
Humboldt County Public Health continues to use every dose of the COVID-19 vaccine it is allocated on a weekly basis. Due to limited vaccine supply, Public Health has canceled its large-scale vaccination clinics for the week and reassigned available resources to support other providers’ clinics.
By the end of this week, all approved local vaccinators, including Public Health, are expected to receive a total of 3,775 doses. Those will be administered to health care workers, first responders, people age 75 and over as well as in-person educators and support staff, based on priorities outlined by the California Department of Public Health.
First dose vaccinations are expected to slow in the coming weeks as nearly 6,000 people are set to begin receiving appointment invitations to schedule their second dose in February and March. Large groups are due for their second dose at once due to the Moderna pause, which, once lifted, led to many first dose vaccinations being given in a shorter period of time than was anticipated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the second dose of both approved vaccines can be given as many as 42 days after the first.
County residents are urged to continue practicing COVID-19 safety measures until vaccine supply can meet demand, which is likely to take many months. Regular testing for COVID-19 remains critically important in identifying cases early to prevent further spread.
Scheduling an appointment in advance at an OptumServe test site is the best way to ensure a test is available, but walk-ins are accepted at all sites. Results are typically returned in about 72 hours. Call 888-634-1123 or go to lhi.care/covidtesting to schedule.
For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or calling 707-441-5000.
Local COVID-19 vaccine information: humboldtgov.org/vaccineinfo Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard: humboldtgov.org/dashboard Follow us on Facebook: @HumCoCOVID19 Instagram: @HumCoCOVID19 Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19 Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert
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= historic data. All data from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center.
Data from CalREDIE. Zip codes not listed have experienced five cases or fewer. Zip code populations from the American Community Survey, 2018.
A total of 2,458 Humboldt County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, after 31 new cases were reported today.
Humboldt County Public Health and local providers have resumed using Lot 041L20A of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine after the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced it was safe to administer.
CDPH had asked counties to pause use of the lot when seven vaccine recipients at a single location in San Diego experienced severe allergic reactions. The agency, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and Moderna, found that there was “no scientific basis to continue the pause.”
Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman said he was grateful to the state for acting quickly to ensure the safety of the vaccine supply and added that he is excited to resume distribution of all vaccine on hand. “There’s a system in place to detect any issues with the vaccine, and that system worked,” he said. “Public Health has 3,170 doses on hand to administer. More than 2,500 of those were affected by this pause—600 first doses and 1,900 second doses—and we want people to know they’re safe.” The remainder of the Moderna lot was distributed to local health care providers, and all are clear to resume administering those doses.
“Given the severity of this pandemic, any delay in vaccination is significant, so we are pleased to resume our plans to vaccinate older adults,” Dr. Hoffman said.
On Wednesday, 285 people were vaccinated at Public Health vaccination clinics with an estimated 290 additional vaccinations expected to be administered today and about 400 appointments scheduled for Friday. Local health care providers also continue to provide vaccinations to their patients. Appointments are invitation only and currently prioritized for Phase 1A health care workers who have not received their first dose and residents over the age of 75.
Providers approved to administer vaccine will reach out directly to their patients who are over 75 as vaccine becomes available. For those who do not have a provider or whose doctor is not an approved vaccinator, the Humboldt County Joint Information Center is developing an online interest form for individuals to submit to be notified when vaccination appointments are available for their priority group. Additional information about the interest form will be released next week.
Read CDPH’s update on the Moderna lot at cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR21-025.aspx.
For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or calling 707-441-5000.
Local COVID-19 vaccine information: humboldtgov.org/vaccineinfo Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard: humboldtgov.org/dashboard Follow us on Facebook: @HumCoCOVID19 Instagram: @HumCoCOVID19 Twitter: @HumCoCOVID19 Humboldt Health Alert: humboldtgov.org/HumboldtHealthAlert
