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A dose closer to reopening As more Californians are vaccinated, governor announces June 15 reopening
SB Unified to double on-campus instruction By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Dr. Carol Del Cielo, left, administers Munya So her second dose of the vaccine at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort Tuesday morning.
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
California could end its tiered reopening system June 15 and fully reopen — provided hospitalization rates remain low and vaccinations are widely distributed, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday. The details are still vague, as California Department of Public Health says the state could resume “usual operations with common-sense risk reduction measures.” The news corresponds with California counties, including Santa Barbara County, opening some vaccine sites to those 16 and older. The whole state will open eligibility April 15, as announced March 25. Santa Barbara County Public Health vaccination sites are open to those 16 and older; though only the vaccine manufactured by Pfizer is approved for those 16 and 17 years of age. Pharmacies and other thirdparty providers are only vaccinating those 50 and older, high-risk populations and groups of essential workers until April 15. Public Health administered the Moderna vaccine to those at least 18 years of age Tuesday at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. Volunteers and members of the Medical Reserve Corps staffed the clinic. Young faces filled the vaccination line Tuesday — less than 24 hours after becoming eligible. Nancy Lapolla, the vaccination pod manager, was excited to see young community members. She runs the vaccination site Tuesdays and previously worked as the director for Santa Barbara County’s emergency medical services agency. “I think it’s awesome (that everyone’s able to get vaccinated). I love it,” she said. “I love to be able to, you know, see more and more people get vaccinated.”
Board of Supervisors examines vaccine equity By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Ms. So waited about 15 minutes to see if she has a reaction in a designated waiting area.
Francesca Cicciarello, a Santa Barbara City College student from Italy, was surprised when the county opened doses to all adults. She expected to have to wait until the summer. “It’s great, especially because I’m Italian and over there they are having problems getting the vaccine available for everybody,” she said. “I study here, so it’s just great that we can finally get vaccinated and get over these crazy times.” With the added immunity from the vaccine, she’s looking forward to being able to travel home to see family. Sebastian Buras was planning to get vaccinated April 15, but his roommate told him about the expanded eligibility Monday. He immediately booked an appointment for the next day and noticed that spots filled up within 10 minutes of the announcement. For Kira Lazzarini, who has been volunteering at the vaccine site once a week for the past five weeks, the rate of vaccination hasn’t changed. She ushers approximately 1,400 people through the line each day, and appointments are continually filled.
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Volunteers check in patients before entering the vaccine center.
The demand for vaccines was ongoing when Public Health opened eligibility, Ms. Lapolla said. She thinks officials opened up vaccination sites to conform to CDC recommendations. “We want to try to be as responsive to (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) as we can,” she said. “So we discussed it, and it’s an
opportunity to just get as many people vaccinated as we can.” She also notes that more appointments are opening up. The Public Health community vaccination clinic, which travels to a new part of the county each week, is currently vaccinating those 16+ in Santa Maria with a dose of the Pfizer shot. It will be Please see vaccines on A8
With Santa Barbara County expanding vaccine eligibility, members of the County Board of Supervisors voiced concerns Tuesday about maintaining vaccine equity now that all residents over the age of 16 are eligible for inoculation. During the Supervisors’ first meeting of the month Tuesday, officials heard an update from the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department on the status of vaccine distribution. According to county data, 17.7% of all county residents have been fully vaccinated. But looking at a breakdown of vaccine totals across the county prompted concern among members of the board on Tuesday. According to the county, 21.2% of people in South County have been fully vaccinated, while 13.6% have been vaccinated in North County. The Public Health Department has targeted its vaccine efforts within North County by providing weekly traveling clinics in both Lompoc and Santa Maria. Yet Board Chair Bob Nelson, the 4th District supervisor, said there appears to be a “growing gap between the North and South County.” “There have been lots of conversations about people from
South County coming up to grab North County appointments … I don’t blame anybody for trying to act on their own self-interest, I just think this is an example of how these two communities are different in the North versus the South,” Mr. Nelson during the meeting. He added, “I’m really fearful that now that we’ve opened it to 16 and older, that gap is only going to get wider. I think you’re going to see more people from the south, who have been better (at getting appointments) this whole entire time, traveling up north to get at least their initial appointment.” Mr. Nelson cited data that counted 47,000 people in South County as fully vaccinated and 20,000 people in North County as fully vaccinated. Das Williams, 1st District supervisor, echoed concern over these statistics, saying there will likely be ramifications that come from this gap. “The ramifications are that brown people living in the North County are being left behind because they’re not being vaccinated as quickly as my constituents that live in the south,” Mr. Williams said. “We need to think about that.” The county health department plans to bring their traveling Please see supervisors on A8
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The Santa Barbara Unified School District is more than doubling students’ on-campus instruction time by the end of the month, district officials told board members during its meeting Tuesday night. Elementary school students will attend classes on campus five days a week starting Monday, and secondary schools will open four days a week April 19. Board members had questions, though details were sparse. But the return to campus was not up for a vote. “It is not a vote; we’re not asking for an action, we’re basically reporting to you,” Superintendent Hilda Maldonado said as she ended the COVID-19 discussion item. “We will go to the five days in elementary starting April 12 and the four days with the Wednesday distance learning for secondary April 19, and that is really the conclusion for this report.” District officials were confident in the decision to further reopen campuses given new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance allowing students to sit three feet apart and anticipate a five-day schedule next school year. “Based on Gov. Newsom’s announcement … we’re likely to go to full-in person learning (next year) if we meet all the criteria,” Superintendent Maldonado said.
Earlier in the day, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced intentions to open the state, ending the tier system, June 15 should hospitalizations continue to decrease and residents have access to vaccines. Board members expressed concern for the student cohort who are continuing to learn virtually. “We will be bringing a more robust report to you in our next meeting, but I want to assure the parents on this call tonight, the public that we will maintain the rigor of distance learning,” Superintendent Maldonado said. “Because we know that education as we know it has changed, and that may become one of our permanent programs going forward, so I don’t want to lose sight of that.” District officials continually promised more details in the next meeting, which is scheduled for April 27. In the meantime, both inperson cohorts will merge and double the amount of students on campus. The students will keep their same teacher for the last weeks of the school year. “I would love if, when you come back in April, if you can really show us visually how it works to have big sixth graders in class sizes of 32, socially distanced with three feet in between,” Board President Kate Ford said. Although board members have been pushing for more days on campus (Board member Laura Please see SCHOOLS on A3
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