Coronavirus update: Fresno County to start COVID-19 shots again; church celebrates ruling
Fresno County will again begin to administer first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the coming week after slowing down for about two weeks.
The clinics will target people 75 or older for the first round of the two-dose vaccine, according to Joe Prado, community health division manager for the Fresno County Department of Public Health.
County health workers will use the online interest survey list they have been collecting for weeks to find people in the age group and get them registered.
“We’re going to do that online registration for them, complete that for them,” Prado said on Friday. “And, then tell them where we’re going to be mobilizing.”
Mobile vaccine units will be headed to metropolitan and urban areas, health officials said. To get on the interest list, fill out the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/fresnocountyvaccine.
Sierra Pacific Orthopedic also has plans to administer first shots in the next week or so, Prado said. The medical provider’s website was only allowing registration’s for second doses as of Saturday.
Fresno County has received 113,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine through this week, and expects to get 8,000 more next week.
New cases and deaths in the Valley
Fresno County reported 387 new cases of the virus Saturday, according to numbers posted on the state public health website. The county total since March is 90,513.
No new deaths were added to the 1,224 reported through the previous day.
Madera County also did not add to its fatal cases, which now total 184, according to state numbers from Saturday. There were 114 new cases, which brings that total to 14,752.
Kings County added 136 new positive cases but no new deaths, which brings those totals to 21,219 and 192, respectively. Of those, 7,170 cases and 17 deaths have been among inmates at state prison facilities in Avenal and Corcoran.
Mariposa did not add any cases in its Saturday morning update. Merced and Tulare counties did not provide updates on Saturday afternoon. The state numbers for those counties lagged behind the figures posted on the local websites.
Health experts say don’t go to Super Bowl parties
Fresno County health experts are asking people to stay home and watch Super Bowl LV without mixing households indoors, according to Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer.
“It’s really all up to us so think about that during this holiday weekend,” he said on Friday. “Think about the choices we make — and the choices that were made weeks and months ago — lead to the consequences that all of us, including our children, have to live with.”
Health guidelines say any gatherings should be held outdoors and kept to no longer than two hours while party-goers maintain social distance from the members of other households and wear masks. People who have health risks or who feel sick should not attend at all.
Scotus rules against Newsom on indoor church services
In a ruling with major implications for California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to enforce COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, the U.S. Supreme Court late Friday knocked down the state’s prohibition on indoor church services.
The court ruled 6-3 in favor of South Bay United Pentecostal Church, located in the San Diego area, which has been fighting in court for months for the right to hold indoor services, saying Newsom’s order violated the Constitution’s protection of the free exercise of religion.
Under California’s tiered protocols, indoor church services are prohibited in regions of the state in the purple tier, where the coronavirus is designated as “widespread.”
