Redwood City – The County of San Mateo continues to work to protect public health and safety in response to the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.
The County of San Mateo’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) remains open to coordinate countywide response and communications in response to the situation. The EOC’s Joint Information Center will provide status reports every Thursday until further notice. Today’s report:
Vaccination Now Open for Residents Age 12 and Older
Vaccination is available to residents age 12 and older with the Pfizer vaccine.
For residents 12 to 17 to get vaccinated, they must either be accompanied by a parent or guardian at the vaccination clinic or bring a signed copy of the vaccination consent form available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Samoan and Tongan at https://www.smchealth.org/post/covid-19-vaccination-consent-form
Vaccine Clinic Times and Locations
Need a COVID-19 vaccination? County Health provides a calendar listing of County-sponsored clinics from Daly City to East Palo Alto and locations in between.
All are open to residents who live or work in San Mateo County and may be scheduled through MyTurn, though appointments are not required. Residents may register on site. The calendar (which lists first-dose clinics only) is available at https://www.smchealth.org/vaccine-clinic-calendar
The MyTurn reservation tool is available at https://myturn.ca.gov/
County Partnership Ensures Vaccine Access in East Palo Alto
The County has partnered with Stanford Health Care, the city of East Palo Alto and Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School to continue operating a weekly COVID-19 vaccine clinic in the hard-hit city.
The new partnership helps ensure the ongoing continuity of a community-oriented clinic in one of the county’s neighborhoods hardest hit by the COVID-19 virus. It also allows for a more predictable schedule for residents of East Palo Alto and surrounding areas.
Learn more at https://www.smcgov.org/press-release/county-partnership-ensures-vaccine-access-east-palo-alto
San Mateo County to Advance to California’s Yellow Tier; County Health Aligns Mask Guidelines with State
A multitude of businesses and activities in San Mateo County have resumed or expanded capacity limits as the county moved Wednesday, May 12, 2021, to the least-restrictive yellow tier on the state’s color-coded reopening plan.
Also Wednesday, Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow rescinded his June 17, 2020 order for social distancing guidelines and face covering requirements in favor of State guidance. The move allows San Mateo County to align with the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health. The CDPH issued its Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings on May 3, 2021.
Learn more at https://www.smcgov.org/press-release/san-mateo-county-advance-california%E2%80%99s-yellow-tier-county-health-aligns-mask-guidelines
County Manager’s Media Briefing
The Wednesday, May 12, 2021, media briefing on the County’s response to COVID-19 hosted by County Manager Mike Callagy can be viewed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/3v_t2pdQ0lE
You can subscribe to the channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2bWDXcW6FfdxVyR-V34oag
COVID-19 Testing and Contact Tracing
Testing remains important so public health officials can track the disease and so those who test positive can receive early care. Testing for COVID-19 is available for everyone who lives or works in San Mateo County regardless of symptoms.
Learn more and make an appointment at https://www.smcgov.org/testing
County Health to Update Population Data in Online Dashboards
As part of an annual update to data used by public health departments, San Mateo County Health is changing the population denominator in many of its online dashboards. The State of California’s Department of Finance pushes out annual updates to its demographic projections, which provide more updated information about the age, race/ethnicity, and gender composition of the state.
With the new information, the estimate for the county’s overall population will decrease from 780,273 to 774,990. The estimated number of residents age 65 and older will increase from 129,975 to 155,155, and the number of residents 75 and older will jump from 55,739 to 69,895.
The updated demographic estimates show San Mateo County to be a slightly smaller and marginally older county. Read more about the new data at https://cmo.smcgov.org/press-release/may-13-2021-county-health-update-population-data-online-dashboards
Vaccine Doses Administered Tops 826,000
A total of 493,554 individuals have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot in San Mateo County as of Wednesday, May 12, 2021.
Of the total, 363,866 individuals have completed the vaccination series, bringing the total number of doses administered to 826,163. Additional information, including demographic data, is available at https://www.smchealth.org/data-dashboards
COVID-19 Case Counts
County Health reports a total of 41,890 total cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Deaths attributed to COVID-19 stand at 568.
Additional information such as cases by age group, cases by race/ethnicity and deaths by age is available at https://www.smchealth.org/data-dashboard/county-data-dashboard
211 Call Center
Residents with non-medical, non-emergency questions about the coronavirus can call 211 at any time, day or night.
Callers from landlines and cellular telephones located within San Mateo County are connected with a trained service professional from 211, a confidential service available in 180 languages.
You can also text your zip code to 898-211. The system will ask for your age and gender in order to understand your eligibility and needs. You can then ask a question and receive a text response from a 211 operator.