On Aug. 24, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted to discuss vaccine or frequent testing requirements for Santa Barbara County employees at its next meeting.
Second District Supervisor Gregg Hart made the suggestion following a presentation on COVID-19’s resurgence.
“It’s very good news that the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] has completed their evaluation and given their full approval of the Pfizer vaccine. Vaccination and frequent testing will promote safety for the community and safety of the public we serve,” Hart said in the meeting.
The FDA approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for those 16 years and older on Aug. 23. County Public Health Department Director Dr. Van Do-Reynoso and county Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg presented current COVID-19 data and testing updates: The county has had 473 total deaths and a 38,302 positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic. From May to July 2021, 88 percent of the 100 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were unvaccinated, Do-Reynoso told county supervisors.
Now, she said, the department is looking into the background and demographics of the fully vaccinated population. Sixty-seven percent of the county’s hospital beds are in use, Do-Reynoso said. The Public Health Department is concerned about the Delta variant spreading due to unvaccinated individuals, she added. County hospitalizations increased from 35 to 77 over a two-week period.
The department’s data also highlights that 54 percent of the county is fully vaccinated. Do-Reynoso said she’s hoping that the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine will aid in increasing the county’s vaccination rates, citing a poll that found that 31 percent of unvaccinated people would be more likely to get vaccinated after approval.
Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino said that he didn’t want to act on this discussion that day and wanted more research done on the number of vaccinated county workers. Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson agreed.
Fourth District Supervisor Das Williams and 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann supported a vaccine mandate for county employees.
“If we want to explore this path, we would want to start sooner rather than later. All county workers are emergency workers. Vaccines today are a part of emergency preparedness,” Hartmann said. “If we are in a situation where people are in need of major support and we have a COVID crisis on top of it, it will make it harder to serve our community.”
County Counsel Rachel Van Mullem said the board had two options for mandating vaccines. One is mandating the vaccine, which the state did for health care and institutional workers. The other option is asking county employees for proof of vaccination or subjecting them to county-provided testing. The county’s Human Resources Department said it would be ready to act on this route in about a month.
The Board of Supervisors will further discuss vaccine requirements on Aug. 31.
“My intent is to start the dialogue and another hearing to adopt something and this conversation will help us proceed. The conversation of getting vaccinated has taken on a sense of urgency and I want to help add to that urgency” Hart said.
This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 2, 2021.