SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Yolo County firefighters to receive COVID-19 Vaccine this week
Yolo County firefighters are scheduled to receive the first of two COVID-19 vaccines.
Firefighters, paramedics, EMTs and other emergency medical services are part of the first phase of the coronavirus vaccine distribution. Woodland Fire Chief Eric Zane said they are hopeful the vaccine will have a positive impact on firefighters.
"This protection goes beyond our firefighters," Zane said. "It will help us to protect their families, their peers and the communities we serve every day."
California creeps closer to half a million vaccines administered in the state
The state's coronavirus vaccine rollout has had a slow start, but the state is getting closer to the half a million mark for doses in arms.
California has administered 488,515 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Wednesday.
In Region 4 of the state, which includes Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Placer, Yolo and several other counties, 25,561 doses have been administered, up from 24,003. Vaccines administered rose from 8,770 to 9,516 for Region 3, including Butte, Colusa, Shasta, Sutter, Yuba and more counties.
No patients from Southern California or San Joaquin have transferred to Sacramento County hospitals at this time
However, the county says it is prepared in the case that either region needs help caring for patients as hospitals continue to operate in ICU surge capacity.
"Hospitals have mutual aid plans and inter-facility transports can be arranged between hospital systems," said Sacramento County public information officer Brenda Bongiorno. "To the County’s knowledge there have been no patients transferred into our hospitals."
Sacramento area hospitals will follow their emergency preparedness plans and can seek help through the state if they do need to take on patients from other regions.
California coronavirus cases continue to increase, nearing 2.5 million in total
The latest coronavirus case numbers were updated today with data from January 5, showing the state still seeing increasingly more COVID-19 cases with each passing day.
Total cases: 2,482,226 total
29,892 today
1.2% increase from prior day total
Total deaths: 27,462 total
459 today
1.7% increase from prior day total
Total tests: 34,548,621 total
217,837 today
0.6% increase from prior day total
Gov. Newsom cancels COVID-19 update due to Capitol protests
Governor Gavin Newsom has canceled his Wednesday afternoon COVID-19 update due to protests at the State and US Capitols. The briefing was canceled to ensure the safety of Newsom and the governor's staff.
The Sacramento protest, called the Wild Protest MAGA March, is just one of many protests happening around the country in support of President Donald Trump, who lost the 2020 election. Angry supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, marching through the building, shouting and waving Trump and American flags and forcing a halt to congressional deliberations over challenges to Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.
The Governor's office released the following statement regarding the events transpiring at the U.S. Capitol :
“Peaceful protest is an important mechanism of our democracy but what we are witnessing in our nation's Capitol building is reprehensible and an outright assault to our democracy and Democratic institutions. The people of California have spoken, and our congressional delegation should never have to fear for their lives to represent Californians. We are concerned for the safety of California’s congressional delegation and U.S. Capitol staff, and are reaching out to offer support in every way possible. President Trump must call for an end to this escalating situation, acknowledge the will of the people to bring President-Elect Biden to the White House and move immediately to a peaceful transition of power."
Watch Live: Health and Human Services talks COVID-19 and aging
California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly is joined by Cal Aging Director Kim McCoy Wade to talk about COVID-19 and aging.
The current ICU capacity by regions are:
- Bay Area: 7.4% (up from 5.9%)
- Greater Sacramento Region: 11.1% (down from 11.7%)
- Northern California: 24.4% (down from 29.8%)
- San Joaquin Valley: 0% (static)
- Southern California: 0% (static)
State orders hospitals with space to accept patients from others that have run out
Hospitals in California are so swamped by the coronavirus that the state has ordered hospitals with available space to accept patients from others that have run out of intensive care beds.
The public health order issued Tuesday could result in patients being shipped to Northern California from Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, where 14 counties also were ordered to delay nonessential “and non-life threatening” surgeries.
"“This order helps ensure that patients continue to receive appropriate medical services by better distributing available resources across the state to prevent overwhelming specific hospitals, counties and regions," Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer, said in a press release.
The order also requires, "some non-essential and non-life-threatening surgeries to be delayed in counties with 10% or less of ICU capacity under the Regional Stay at Home Order where the regional ICU capacity is at 0%."
For much of the year, California managed to avoid a catastrophe. But now the virus is raging and California remains at or near the top of states with the most new cases per capita.
The crush of patients with the coronavirus is so severe in Los Angeles that they exceeded the normal capacity at one community hospital. The interim chief of operations and nursing at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital said on Tuesday that it had 135 patients with COVID-19 at the hospital that has a capacity of 131 beds. It was treating 215 total patients.
It’s emblematic of the surge of coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County that has overwhelmed medical staff, created a shortage of oxygen and led to a directive to ambulance crews to stop transporting patients they can’t revive in the field.
CORONAVIRUS AND VACCINE RESOURCES AND ANSWERS:
- San Joaquin County Help: A Resource Guide for Struggling Families and Individuals
- Yolo County Help: A Resource Guide for Struggling Families and Individuals
- Stanislaus County Help: A Resource Guide for Struggling Families and Individuals
- Sacramento County Help: A Resource Guide for Struggling Families and Individuals
- Q&A: Why wear a mask after you've been vaccinated?
- Can my employer require the COVID-19 vaccine? | Q&A with workers rights attorney
- El Dorado County Help: A resource guide for struggling families and individuals
- Northern California Help: A resource guide for struggling Families and individuals
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