REDDING, Calif. – More and more health care workers across the country are getting the Covid-19 vaccine. But Shasta health leaders want to make sure that its health care workers get vaccinated first before moving on to other groups.
Right now, Shasta County is in Phase 1A of its vaccination rollout plan. Phase 1A is broken down into three tiers.
Tier one, which is what the county is now, includes people who work in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and EMTs. Tier two includes people who work in outpatient substance abuse treatment facilities and behavioral health programs, to name a few. Tier three includes lab workers, dental offices, and other clinics.
“Tier one also includes nursing care facilities and other long-term care facilities, and dialysis facilities,” said Amy Koslosky, a supervising community education specialist with the Shasta Health & Human Services Agency.
“It will take a while to get through that group especially with the large health care population here.”
As more of the vaccine becomes available, the other phases will then be added to the list.
But because of the limited supply of the vaccine, the county is taking a phased approach to distribution.
Shasta County Public Health says it will be a while to get through Phase 1A of the vaccination plan. The agency says it can take to a couple of weeks to even a few months.
For Alan Spivey, a teacher for almost 30 years, he tells Action News Now he’s ready to take the vaccine.
Spivey says distance learning has been tough, and he’s ready to get back to the classroom and be around his students.
“It's been really tough because I’m a really social person, and I miss seeing my kids,” said Spivey.
“We've been online learning since March. I've been teaching for 30 years and part of the reason I still I am is that I enjoy being around the kid and it’s not the same on a zoom.”
Shasta County Public Health says that the more vaccines come in, the county will be able to move through its phases faster. Between Moderna and Pfizer, Shasta County received more than 4000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Shasta County Public Health says it expects the general public will be able to receive the vaccine sometime next year.
For 40 years, Monte Whitacre lived in Shasta County. He and his wife overcame their battle with coronavirus.
Whitacre says while he didn’t suffer severe symptoms, his wife did. With the vaccine’s arrival, he tells Action News Now, he’s ready to take it when he can/
“[Coronavirus is] something to be concerned about and anything we can do to help slow it down is the right thing to do,” said Whitacre.
Shasta County has about 14,000 health care workers.