Vaccination requirements in Santa Barbara: who needs them or proof of negative test
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The United States is 9 months into the vaccination rollout. Anyone 12 and up is eligible for a vaccine. However, after months of encouragement, barely 50% of Americans are fully vaccinated. 59% of those eligible are fully vaccinated.
In California, about 65% of everyone 18 and up is fully vaccinated. And in Santa Barbara County only 62.5% of those 12 and up are fully vaccinated.
According to the Center for Disease Control modeling, at our current vaccination rate, the United States would hit 100% of the eligible population fully vaccinated by Spring 2022. A huge distance from the original modeling and capacity to fully vaccinate 100% of the eligible population by July 2021.
Health experts are now pointing to the unvaccinated as the reason for this pandemic prolonging. California Governor Gavin Newsom last month said people are choosing to prolong the pandemic by choosing not to get vaccinated.
“Too many people have chosen to live with this virus,” said Governor Newsom. “We’re at a point in this epidemic, this pandemic where choice, individuals choice not to get vaccinated is now impacting the rest of us in a profound and devastating and deadly way. That choice has lead to an increase in case rates growing concern around increase in death rates and self evidently around hospitalizations."
On Monday the United States had 235,099 new cases of COVID-19. A similar number to the peak of the deadly 3rd wave in January. Southeastern states are leading the 4th wave. Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi and Texas have between 2.3 to 5.6 times higher case rates than California.
In the first nine days of August, Santa Barbara County has had 724 new cases of COVID-19 or about 80.4 per day. And is on pace for nearly 2,500 new cases this month. Public Health officials show unvaccinated people are getting sick nearly 4 times more than the vaccinated.
Since months of encouragement didn’t get the full vaccination needed to dramatically curb the pandemic, businesses and governments are starting to enforce vaccination policies.
Last month California mandated all state employees and health care workers get vaccinated or get tested weekly.
The University of California and California State systems, including the University of California Santa Barbara, are requiring vaccines for their students and faculty. Or if someone has an approved exemption they must be tested weekly.
Santa Barbara City College has a similar policy to UCSB.
Santa Barbara Unified School District is requiring vaccines for all of its faculty members. They also require students 12 and up to be vaccinated as well as the students' family members.
On Monday, the City of Goleta announced their city employees must be vaccinated or get tested weekly.
Other major businesses that require their employees along the South and Central Coasts to get vaccinated include Cisco, United Airlines, Walgreens and Walmart.
To signup for a vaccine visit MyTurn.ca.gov or call 2-1-1.
