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Vaccine distribution slow Public waits for additional phases during pandemic
Santa Barbara shooting ruled double homicide By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
A shooting Sunday evening in Santa Barbara’s lower east side has been ruled a double homicide by the Santa Barbara Police Department. Two victims are deceased while an additional two victims are receiving medical treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, spokesman Anthony Wagner told the News-Press. Police identified 18-year-old Omar Montiel-Hernandez as one of the deceased. The name of the other, a minor, could not be publicly released by the police department. A fundraiser on crowdfunding site “GoFundMe” seeks assistance for the funeral expenses of 17-year-old Angel
Castillo, whom the organizer identifies as the second deceased victim. The fundraiser can be accessed at gofund. me/794715eb. Amy “Drea” Martinez, a Goleta resident and community organizer, created the fundraiser to assist Angel’s family. Just five hours after starting the page, $2,254 had been raised from 32 donors. The investigation into Sunday’s shooting is ongoing. It took place at approximately 5:40 p.m. in the 1200 block of Liberty Street. Anyone with information is urged to call the SBPD detective division at 805-897-2335 or the anonymous tip line at 805-5692677. email: ahanshaw@newspress.com
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
A used Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot lies on a table at Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state needs to distribute the vaccines faster. KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
By ANNELISE HANSHAW
Santa Barbara police investigate the shooting site in the 1200 block of Liberty Street.
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
In a live COVID-19 update Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom reported that 454,306 vaccines have been administered statewide as of Sunday. This is just over 35% of what the state has in possession, with 611,000 more doses on the way. Gov. Newsom described that percentage as “not good enough.” “We are working aggressively to accelerate our pace,” he said. “We’ve said this from day one; it’s like a flywheel the first 10-15 days. We’re going to slowly start building pace and start building, and you’re going to start seeing the more rapid distribution of this vaccine.” He said that in the 2021 budget he proposed to the state legislature this week, he included more than $300 million for vaccine distribution. It will fund items like CALVAX, a distribution program to help manage the millions of Californians set to receive the vaccine. Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reports that a total of 17,575 vaccines have arrived in the community: 8,775 from Pfizer-BioNTech and 8,800 from Moderna. “Over 5,000 vaccines have been administered to date. As providers adjust to reporting vaccines administered, we will see more updated figures in the days and weeks ahead,” Public Health spokesperson Jackie Ruiz told the News-Press. “Many of our local skilled nursing facility residents and staff have already received their first dose of vaccine.” Monday, Santa Barbara County Fire Department Capt. Jon Ford received his first round of the
Small boat act intended to prevent disasters By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
Dr. Trees Ritter receives the first Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot from Candice Monge, the Dignity Health chief nurse executive officer, at Marian Regional Medical Center.
COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna. He is the first in the department to receive the vaccine. Each distribution phase has tiers. Currently, Santa Barbara County is distributing vaccines for Phase 1A, tiers one and two. Hospital workers, staff and residents in long-term care settings serving high-risk individuals, emergency medical services providers and dialysis center staff are in tier one. Intermediate care facilities, home health workers, community health workers, and primary,
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meet from 3-6 p.m. Wednesday to finalize plans for Phase 1B and discuss 1C. Gov. Newsom estimated that three million Californians are in Phase 1A, and Phase 1B has about eight million. He also reported that the distribution of the vaccine manufactured by Moderna has created more hiccups in the process. “Moderna, we’re not dealing with directly. Pfizer, we deal directly with. But Moderno has Please see VACCINE on A8
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U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, introduced the Small Passenger Safety Vessel Act.
equipment. And it establishes increased standards for interconnected fire alarm systems. Rep. Carbajal said he was proud to work on the safety act with U.S. Rep. Brownley and Sen. Feinstein. “The Conception boat fire was a tragedy that could have been prevented had stronger safety measures been in place,” Sen. Feinstein said in a statement. “We can’t allow this to happen again.” The act is part of the National Defense Reauthorization Act, which became law after the House and Senate last week voted to override President Donald Trump’s veto. email: dmason@newspress.com
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correctional and urgent care clinics compose tier two. “Persons with health conditions will begin to be vaccinated later in Phase 1B, specifically those aged 65–74 years old. The expected start date for vaccinating this group is sometime in February and March,” Ms. Ruiz said. Essential workers in designated fields will also be eligible in Phase 1B. The framework, which comes directly from the state, is available at publichealthsbc.org/vaccine. The state-level community vaccine advisory committee will
The Small Passenger Vessel Safety Act became law with the recent passage of the National Defense Authorization Act. U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, introduced the measure in response to the 2019 Conception boat fire, which cost 34 lives off the coast of Santa Cruz Island. U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley, a Democrat representing Ventura County, was the safety act’s co-author in the House, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced the bill in the Senate. The act requires the Coast Guard to implement safety reforms to prevent fires such as the Conception tragedy. “It puts forth a number of recommendations that the National Transportation Safety Board put forward,” Rep. Carbajal told the News-Press by phone from Washington, D.C. The act requires small passenger boats, such as the Conception, to have no fewer than two avenues to escape from different parts of the boat. It also requires safety standards for the handling and storage of devices with lithium ion batteries, such as phones, cameras and other electronic
Obituaries............. A8 Sudoku................. A5 Weather................ A8
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 11-19-35-40-46 Meganumber: 18
Monday’s DAILY 4: 9-0-6-0
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 8-24-53-68-69 Meganumber: 7
Monday’s FANTASY 5: 7-13-19-38-39
Monday’s DAILY DERBY: 07-01-05 Time: 1:43.93
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 3-4-11-41-67 Meganumber: 5
Monday’s DAILY 3: 5-0-9 / Sunday’s Midday 0-3-9