Thanks to an increase in supply of COVID-19 vaccines, Contra Costa County today is extending vaccine eligibility to anyone who is 50 and older and lives or works in the county, regardless of whether they have an underlying health condition.

The move comes as the county has begun receiving additional vaccine from the federal government for its federally-qualified health centers. This federal allocation is in addition to the vaccine the county gets from the state each week.

A week ago, Contra Costa expanded eligibility to ages 16-64 and older with qualifying underlying health conditions. Today’s announcement removes any health-related qualifiers for those between the ages of 50-64.

“We look forward to the coming months when we can do away with vaccine eligibility, when anyone and everyone is eligible,” said Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Chair Diane Burgis. “More and more doses of vaccine are coming into the county each week and we expect that trend to continue.”

To date, more than 336,000 county residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, including 96% of those age 75 and older. The county will further expand eligibility to others when vaccine supply increases more.

“COVID does not affect everyone the same,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, the County’s health officer. “Older people are more likely to suffer severe disease. Nearly all of the COVID deaths in Contra Costa have been among people over the age of 50. We are making good progress vaccinating those in the groups already eligible and will now continue to prioritize more of the most vulnerable groups in our community.”

More than 235,000 county residents are between the ages of 50-64.

“We are fortunate to have three highly effective vaccines right now,” Dr. Farnitano said. “All the health officers in the Bay Area strongly recommend getting whatever vaccine you can to protect yourself, your loved ones and our community.”

Eligible residents may request a vaccine appointment through the county by filling out an online form or by calling 833-829-2626.

“More contagious than others and possibly more deadly”

Laboratory results have revealed the first two known cases of the highly infectious U.K. variant (B.1.117) in Contra Costa County. The B.1.117 variant, dubbed the U.K. variant because it is believed to have originated in the United Kingdom, is more contagious than others and possibly more deadly.

“This is a reminder that even though COVID numbers are falling, we need to continue using all our tools to prevent another surge: wear masks in public, continue to physically distance, avoid both indoor and large gatherings, and get vaccinated when it’s your turn,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, the county’s health officer.

Initial studies suggest the three COVID vaccines in the United State provide strong protection against the U.K. variant and others.

While these are the first confirmed cases of the U.K. variant in Contra Costa, Dr. Chris Farnitano, the county’s health officer, said there are likely many more in the community that have not been detected.

“We can’t say how widespread it is in Contra Costa, but it’s concerning,” Dr. Farnitano said.

The South African variant, another COVID variant of concern, has yet to be detected in Contra Costa, although Dr. Farnitano said we should assume it also circulating in California.

The presence of the U.K. variants were discovered as part of laboratory surveillance work during the pandemic. One local person infected with the U.K. variant began displaying common COVID-19 symptoms such as cough and muscles aches and was able to isolate at home. The other Contra Costa resident reported having multiple symptoms, including runny nose, cough, headache and loss of smell and taste.

For Contra Costa data and COVID-19 health information, visit cchealth.org/coronavirus.

Vaccines not approved by FDA, but granted Emergency Use Authorization

On Monday, March 15, 2021, Contra Costa County Health Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano in coordination with other health officers in the Bay Area issued the following statement:

“As local health officers, we fully support all three currently available vaccines for COVID-19. All three vaccines are safe and have been shown to be highly effective at preventing symptomatic illness and hospitalization. The clinical trials for all three vaccines demonstrated that they were 100 percent effective in preventing deaths from COVID-19. There is also growing evidence that all three vaccines help prevent asymptomatic illness, too. This means that people who have been vaccinated are not likely to spread of COVID-19 to others who are not vaccinated.

There has been much debate about the advantages of one brand of vaccine over the other, but it’s difficult to compare their efficacy. The different brands of COVID-19 vaccines have not been studied in head-to-head comparisons. The vaccines have each been studied in slightly different groups of people and tested at different phases of the pandemic. The rates of community transmission and presence or absence of COVID-19 variants differed across studies.

What we can say with certainty is that all three vaccines provide levels of protection that are comparable to some of the best vaccines we have for other serious infectious diseases for which we routinely vaccinate people.

With COVID-19 continuing to circulate as we work toward community immunity, our collective medical advice is this: the best vaccine is the one you can get the soonest. The different vaccines have different storage requirements and with supplies of vaccine currently limited, the same brand may not be available at each vaccine site consistently.

If you have questions about vaccine, speak to your medical provider if you have one. You can also learn more about vaccines on the state’s COVID-19 website.

This statement has been approved by health officers representing the city of Berkeley and the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma.”

Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine

Photo by Arne Mueseler.

According to the CDC’s website, the side effects of taking the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine include redness, swelling and pain at the injection site, as well as fever, fatigue, chills, vomiting, diarrhea and new or worsening joint and muscle pain. According to the company’s Feb. 12th press release, “The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine has not been approved or licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but has been authorized for emergency use by FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to prevent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for use in individuals 16 years of age and older.”

According to a March 15the report on MedicalXpress.com, the “Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is 97% effective in preventing symptomatic disease in actual use” and that “a previous real-world study revealed that the vaccine was 94 percent effective against symptomatic disease and 92 percent effective against asymptomatic disease, CBS News reported.”

U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Anna Nolte.

Moderna Vaccine

According to the CDC’s website, the common side effects of taking the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine include pain, redness and swelling in the arm where you got the shot; and tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever and nausea throughout the rest of your body. According to the company’s Feb. 16th press release, “Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine is authorized for use under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for active immunization to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in individuals 18 years of age and older. Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine is investigational and not approved by FDA.”

Johnson & Johnson’s Jansen Vaccine

Photo by J&J

According to the CDC’s website, the side effects of the Johnson & Johnson Jansen COVID-19 Vaccine include pain, redness and swelling in the arm where you got the shot; and tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever and nausea throughout the rest of your body. It “is recommended for people aged 18 years and older.” Just like the other two vaccines, according to the Johnson & Johnson website, “The Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine has not been approved or licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but has been authorized by the FDA through an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). The FDA EUA Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine (Vaccination Providers) and full EUA Prescribing Information are available here.”

Allen Payton contributed to this report.