Anthony Fauci Supports Vaccines at San Mateo County Town Hall | Local News

“We live in the community. We don’t live in a vacuum,” Fauci said. “You want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

Fauci said the country is at a crossroads towards the cool winter months, traditionally characterized by large indoor rallies. It is possible to avoid another holiday surge as experienced in parts of Europe by being vaccinated, or to access the vaccine to prevent widespread outbreaks before the community gathers.

“It depends entirely on what we do. It is within our understanding to prevent it from happening,” Fauci said, giving the same message about the possibility of reaching herd immunity. I shared it.

Along the west coast, COVID-19 infections, mainly from delta mutants, are already beginning to increase. This trend is also seen in San Mateo County, which fluctuates inside and outside the yellow layer, indicating a moderate risk of epidemics set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Staying in the yellow layer is one of three criteria that the county must meet before the area’s indoor masking obligations are lifted, although masking rules are unlikely to be relaxed before the holidays. ..

“We’re still watching things carefully because it’s very likely that we’re heading in either direction,” Health Director Louise Rogers said at a supervisory board meeting on Tuesday.

In response to questions from the general public, Fauci said it is essential to mask unvaccinated people to prevent the spread of the virus, especially when gathering indoors during vacations. He also recommended celebrating outdoors when the weather is nice.

But in the end, Fauci argued that vaccination of as many people as possible, as well as local health authorities, was the best layer of protection for the pre-holiday community.

In response to vaccine safety questions, Fauci endorsed clinical trials showing that treatment is currently very effective and safe for people over the age of five. He encouraged boosters for qualified individuals and encouraged parents to vaccinate their children as soon as possible.

However, Fauci also points out that many have unanswered or misinformed questions, and the public to be patient with loved ones who have not yet been vaccinated. I called to. He suggested to people that he was a reliable messenger who communicated factual information and its sources, rather than being controversial.

“If you have a really serious illness and have a very effective tool, it’s a shame if you don’t make the most of it,” Fauci said. “If you are there and not vaccinated, get vaccinated.”

With a national vaccination rate of 58%, 62 million Americans are unprotected and do not account for 28 million newly qualified children, Forch said.

In San Mateo County, the overall vaccination rate was slightly above 73% as of November 3, but 92% of the county’s population over the age of 16 was vaccinated. The county’s vaccine data has not been updated to reflect the number of children under the age of 12 who have been vaccinated after receiving the green light last week. Rogers said these numbers should be updated later this week.

At the San Mateo County Event Center, at a supervisory board meeting on Tuesday, Dr. Anand Chabra, medical director of Family Health Services, the county’s first pediatric clinic, vaccinated about 350 children.

Rogers sometimes described Saturday’s event as “very successful” and “celebrating.” To make the walkthrough clinic more child-friendly, county staff decorated the site with bright themes and provided families with television and games as entertainment while waiting before and after vaccination.

Pediatric clinics will be held weekly from Wednesday to Saturday, and a regional school-based clinic in partnership with the San Mateo County Department of Education will begin next week, Chabra said.

According to Rogers, large healthcare providers have begun booking pediatric doses in response to growing demand. About 20 pharmacies in the county also offer pediatric doses.

“When they qualified, it was very exciting to see the high interest, enthusiasm and reaction to vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years,” Rogers said.