Bay Area Health Officials Urge Immediate Vaccination and Issue Orders Requiring Use of Face Coverings Indoors to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19.
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA: Los Oficiales del Area de la Bahía Recomiendan Enfáticamente la Vacunación Inmediata y Emiten Ordenes para Requerir el Uso de Mascarillas Faciales en Interiores a Fin de Prevenir el Contagio del COVID-19.
New indoor mandatory masking announced: All individuals, regardless of vaccination status, must wear face coverings when indoors in public settings.
Everyone should #maskup to protect themselves and others.
Learn more about vaccinations & the new requirements around Covid-19.
Information about some of the questions or concerns we hear most often:
1. Vaccine was developed too fast.
Extraordinary effort; It was prioritized, and it was well funded; Scientists shared information. Govts shared info. No shortcuts on Clinical Trials.
Pre-clinical and clinical trials were done side-by-side instead of sequentially.
The manufacturing of vaccines began while clinical trials were being done.
2. Vaccines aren't even fully approved.
It is an Emergency Use Authorization. Some of the most extensive clinical trials were done, including folks in our communities.
Emergency Use Authorization means they were approved without getting it stamped by all the bureaucratic entities and processes involved in the regular pace of authorization.
The FDA's Vaccine Review Board (VRB) and CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices prioritized the review of Covid vaccines.
3. I can't afford to miss work from side effects.
Most of the time, side effects are mild, although not always. Long-term, though, it protects from the virus, makes you less likely to miss a lot more work. If you don't want to take the chance, please consider getting your vaccine when you have a day off the next day.
If your workplace has at least 25 or more employees, you are eligible for paid time off for vaccinations.
Local resources: Legal Aid at Work and Centro Legal- their doors are open to everyone.
4. I still want to wait and see. What's the hurry?
Well, there is this new strain of the disease, called the Delta variant. It is more contagious. All the recent *deaths we see in the County now are among the unvaccinated, so we want to keep you safe. Also, getting vaccinated means, you can visit relatives and family members without worrying about infecting them.
*Death and hospitalizations related to Covid complications are rare, per CDC's July 6th report:
*Read this article on a fully vaccinated woman from Napa who died due to Covid related complications
5. Concerns about the effect on future fertility.
From LAPHD: There is no biological reason, evidence, or real-life experience to show that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems. In fact, some women who were vaccinated as part of the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials and many people who were immunized since the trials have become pregnant.
Here's the link for the fertility "Fact Check" factsheet from LAPHD: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/docs/vaccine/FactCheck_Fertility.pdf