By Delphine Burns PVA Poster Contest Deadline Extended

COMMUNITY NEWS PVA Poster Contest Deadline Extended

Pajaro Valley Arts and the City of Watsonville have completed the first phase of installation of the newest Moveable Murals, “An Act of Love: Mask Wearing During the Pandemic,” funded by the Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust Cares Act grant.

The “Wear A Mask” poster contest deadline has been extended to April 7.

The first phase of the project includes a digital rendering of the piece Wear Together by Watsonville artist Erik Davison; and two photo collages designed by Karen Lemon, digitized by Hedwig Heerschop, of photographs submitted by the community.

The second phase will include installation of four hand-painted murals called Flying Together by Watsonville artist Jaime Sanchez to be installed in March.

In November, Pajaro Valley Arts asked artists to submit mural ideas and/or photographs of themselves, family, friends, and/or essential workers wearing protective masks. The intent was to feature art that demonstrates how personalities can shine through while staying safe and protected by masks.

The “Wear A Mask” poster contest deadline has been extended to April 7

Images submitted by Genevieve Daly, Kimberly deLucia, Brianna Flores, Linda Martin, Karen Lemon, Marianne Nagel, Joey Ontiveros, and Graciela Veg were selected, reflecting a beautiful range of personalities and interests.

The final designs were submitted to, supported, and approved by the City of Watsonville Parks Commission.

The photo collages and images by Erik Davison were printed on large vinyl banners by Safari Signs.

The City of Watsonville installation team included Grant Adams, Miguel Navarrete, and Rex Rackley. n •••

If this project inspires you, visit https:// pvarts.org/dev/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ Call-for-Entry-Poster-Contest_Extendeddeadline.pdf

“COVID Update” from page 11

She said she met Sabbah at a vaccine clinic in Watsonville for ag workers when he asked her about vaccinating kindergarten teachers. That got the ball rolling.

Dr. Steve Magee, Dignity Health Medical Foundation-Dominican president, reported from the Harbor High School gym, where 27 vaccine clinics have taken place, reaching the target numbers of people age 65 and up.

“We are floating high with excitement,” said Diane Morgenstern, Mountain School superintendent/principal. “Like you, we have waited a long time to get to this next phase.”

Kris Munro, superintendent of Santa Cruz City Schools, said 1,000 students have been on campus in small cohorts since October, with no COVID transmission from in-person services.

“We feel confident the systems we have in place will keep our students and our staff safe,” she said.

Reaching Elders

On Feb. 22, county health officials said more than half of county residents 65 and older have received at least one dose of vaccine, and as of Thursday it was 63 percent.

“It has taken a truly collaborative effort across the community to reach this point,” said Mimi Hall, Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency director.

With the 50+ percent target reached, the county is expanding vaccine access to workers in education and childcare, emergency services, and food and agriculture.

County Public Health is asking employers to arrange vaccination clinics for their workers. To begin that process, eligible employers must fill out a COVID-19 Vaccine Interest Survey at https://bit. ly/2NnFAUA. So far, 500 have done so.

As for people 65 and up who haven’t been vaccinated, the county urges them to schedule an appointment now.

For some, that has proven challenging, with a pinned tweet by a major local provider, Sutter Health, saying it doesn’t have enough vaccine supplies and advising people to check online for updates.

At the health leaders press conference Thursday, county spokesman Jason Hoppin acknowledged the frustration some have felt.

Hard To Get

Checking santacruzhealth.org for vaccine availability one day, CVS in Capitola was fully booked and Walgreens hasn’t yet brought vaccine to California. One new pharmacy with vaccine, posted this week, is RiteAid, 1988 Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville.

Kaiser, a big provider locally, was shorted on vaccine by the state, according to Dr. Gail Newel, the county health officer, but has now received more vaccine and is willing to vaccinate people outside its health plan.

Photo Credit: Pajaro Valley Arts One of the Movable Murals, “An Act of Love: Mask Wearing During the Pandemic,” is a collage of photos submitted by community members digitized by Hedwig Heerschop and designed by Karen Lemon.

The first open appointment online at the county’s vaccine clinic, 250 Main St. in Watsonville, was Easter Sunday, April 4, but the online sign-up system required the second appointment to be scheduled at the same time and no appointments were available in May.

Nonprofit Santa Cruz Community Health in Live Oak is willing to accommodate people 65 and up who have had difficulty scheduling an appointment, with staff taking phone numbers, making callbacks and offering to let people know when vaccine is available.

By Friday, the Sutter Health patient portal was providing vaccine appointment dates for Saturday.

Dr. Newel predicts the county will move into the Red Tier, which allows indoor dining and movies to open at 25 percent capacity and gyms to open at 10 percent capacity, in two or three weeks.

For the change, the county needs to have lower numbers for two weeks. The county’s adjusted case rate is 8.6 per 100,000; Red Tier is 7 or below.

Nearby San Mateo and Marin counties were fast-tracked into the Red Tier because of their low equity positivity rates, 3.7 percent and 3.4 percent. Santa Cruz County is at 6.3 percent.

Third Vaccine

Dr. David Ghilarducci, Santa Cruz County deputy health officer, is undocumented workers, Jen Herrera, the county’s chief of public health, said public excited about the Johnson & Johnson oneshot vaccine, which was found to reduce moderate to severe COVID infection by 66 percent and doesn’t need to be frozen.

“It’s 100 percent effective at keeping you out of the hospital,” he said. “That’s a game-changer.”

A federal panel on Friday recommended the FDA grant emergency use authorization, and it could arrive locally as soon as next week. Ghilarducci expects that having a third vaccine in addition to Pfizer’s and Moderna’s will speed up the likelihood of “herd immunity” in the county, sooner than midAugust, his earlier prediction. So far, he said, Sutter Health leads in vaccine distribution, with close to 25,000 doses, followed by Dominican, 10,000, and county clinics, 9,000. “We can expect to get 50 percent more vaccine in coming weeks,” Newel said, assuming the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is approved. In four weeks, with Blue Shield taking over the vaccine distribution from the state, she expects there to be “more supply than we can administer. That will be a happy day.” Newel addressed what she called “myths” about the vaccine: • It does not contain fetal tissue, she said, noting stem cells were used in research but not in the vaccine. • It does not cause infertility or miscarriage, she said, and it doesn’t alter DNA. • The side effects are mild, she said, soreness, a bit of fever, chills…very short-lived , a few hours. To a question about outreach to health is working with the county ag commissioner, employers, and Pajaro Valley organizations. The state’s switch to Blue Shield age-based vaccine system March 1 won’t have an immediate impact on Santa Cruz County, which is in the third wave, and is scheduled to switch over toward the end of the month.

To schedule a vaccine appointment, visit santacruzhealth.org or sign up at the state website, https://myturn.ca.gov.

To see what business activity is allowed see: tinyurl.com/ cdph-dimmer-framework-sept (full URL: www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/ DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20Library/COVID-19/ Dimmer-Framework-September_2020.pdf) n ••• County COVID Deaths 183

As of Feb. 26

Age 90 and up: 54 • 80 to 89: 56 • 70 to 79: 36 60 to 69: 26 • 50 to 59: 4 • 40 to 49: 3 30 to 39: 3

Race/Ethnicity White: 107 • Latinx: 60 • Asian: 14 Black: 1 • Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native: 1

Underlying Conditions Yes: 141 •No: 42

Gender Male: 83 • Female: 100

Skilled Nursing/Residential Care Santa Cruz Post Acute: 20 Watsonville Post Acute: 18 Pacific Coast Manor: 14 Hearts & Hands Post Acute: 8 Sunshine Villa: 7 • Aegis: 4 Maple House 1: 4 Valley Convalescent: 4 Montecito Manor: 3 Watsonville Nursing Center: 3 De Un Amor: 2 • Dominican Oaks: 2 Driftwood: 2 • Hanover House: 2 Maple House II: 2 • Paradise Villa: 1 Rachelle’s Home 1: 1 Rachelle’s Home II: 1 Valley Haven: 1 • Westwind: 1 Total: 100 Not at a facility: 83

COVID Cases by Town

Aptos: 698 • Ben Lomond: 105

Boulder Creek: 134 • Capitola: 403 Felton: 134 •Freedom: 913

Santa Cruz: 3,430 • Scotts Valley: 370

Soquel: 315 • Watsonville: 7,674 Unincorporated: 219 Under investigation: 233 Total: 14,628

Source: Santa Cruz County Public Health •••

To view the Town Hall on schools reopening, see: tinyurl.com/ SCCed-town-hall-reopen (Full URL: https://santacruzcoe-org.zoom.us/ rec/play/yO7rBFlcybygn0c1VMMOuMTcWei9p45cyAigjmBcdIxh3Bw7CoDcz3H590dZsSQSp WyGYJj028HbZ77.ZfuTRrRE8cmwa6BR?star tTime=1614301224000)