Health Orders & Updates

March has marked three-year anniversaries of some of the earliest COVID-19 public health actions that were required at the local and state levels, and I echo the thanks that the Board of Supervisors extended at their meeting on March 14th to all of our community partners for the roles you have played and continue to play to further our community’s health and well-being.

As we experience a reprieve from the recent storms, our community faces challenges in moving toward recovery. The risk of COVID-19 remains, but some impacts are lessening.

We are engaged on several important public health protection fronts and value this monthly opportunity to update the community.

You may have heard some local news coverage of rescissions of local health orders in other counties requiring COVID-19 vaccination or testing. We do not have to rescind local orders for masking or vaccination because we have already aligned with the State. The State requirements, such as for masking within health care facilities, continue to be in effect. 

We are glad of the news that the updated bivalent COVID-19 booster is now approved and available. We see the arrival of the new booster as another hopeful milestone with the data the FDA considered in its approval strongly suggesting improved protection against currently circulating variants. We appreciate the continued engagement of many partners involved in assuring equitable reach of the vaccine.

As we have needed to accept the many aspects of COVID-19 risk mitigation that are part of our daily lives, we want to keep you and the public informed about the changing context that underlies our current situation so that everyone can protect themselves and the community as much as possible.

As we see increased COVID-19 transmission in our community, I wanted to share an update to encourage all of us to take the important actions we can to protect ourselves and our loved ones.  

We are seeing community transmission and test positivity increase in the testing reported to us, and the level of COVID-19 hospitalizations has also been rising.  We have shared via social media, community partners, and our website, some key prevention strategies to strengthen at this time, including:

As we commence March, having passed the two-year mark of adapting to what the pandemic has required, I remain grateful for the stamina, resilience and learning that continue to be demonstrated across San Mateo County with all of your help. 

My COVID-19 update this week is coming on the day that the statewide requirement including in San Mateo County for masking for fully vaccinated residents in indoor settings comes to an end.

Masking requirements remain in place for everyone on public transportation, in schools and childcare settings, long term care and adult and senior care facilities, healthcare and correctional settings. Yesterday, Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, shared that the State will reassess the requirement for masking within school settings on February 28th.

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday we observed on Monday reminds us of the struggles and stamina so many before us endured to keep working toward a more just tomorrow. I draw strength from that perseverance in all that we are working through today. In Martin Luther King’s words: “We are in an inescapable network of mutuality. Whatever affects one directly, affects us all indirectly.”

My message this week is brief during this Thanksgiving week of reflection.

We are hopeful that we will receive news commencing today and continuing through early next week of the federal government’s review through the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control leading to emergency use authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine for kids aged 5-11.

This morning as County Manager Mike Callagy presented revisions to our budget for this fiscal year, I was reminded of the many ways our county, led by our board, continues to advance many long-term investments and actions that support recovery for our residents, in addition to supporting our immediate work responding to the pandemic.

The Labor Day holiday reminds us each year of the essential contributions of all workers, and this year our gratitude is especially for the perseverance of the many workers who are the backbone of our eighteen-month response to the pandemic in San Mateo County. 

This last week brought continued progress in reaching our residents with the vaccine as well as more actions at the federal and state levels that influence our local COVID-19 landscape. 

As we look forward to next week and the increased opening our residents and sectors will enjoy, I’m glad to share that as of June 10th, 556,528 SMC residents have been vaccinated, 83.5% of our eligible population over the age of 12. 

 I am so pleased to have an additional reason to update you on our vaccine rollout progress as San Mateo County’s COVID-19 adjusted case rate was low enough for two weeks for the county to move to the least restrictive Yellow Tier, representing “minimal” risk level.

We know that each of the almost half a million residents who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are contributing to stopping the spread of the virus and its variants as we strive to achieve even greater protection across all communities.

I appreciate being able to share more good news as California beats back the virus (see CDC map at this link) and the vaccine supply from both federal and state pathways to San Mateo County improves. 

Our COVID-19 vaccine rollout in San Mateo County continues to inspire hope each day, while I know you are likely hearing and experiencing some frustration about the opening of vaccine eligibility to all residents age 16+ this week.

The Governor’s hopeful announcement that the State is expanding eligibility for the vaccine this week (April 1) to all residents ages 50+ and in a couple of weeks (April 15th) to all residents age 16+ is a promising sign that California and San Mateo County will receive much more vaccine supply by later in April, which will help us increase the speed of our vaccination as a County and as a country. 

This week we continue to see progress in the San Mateo County COVID-19 vaccine rollout, while also acknowledging that the large group of approximately 200,000 residents who became eligible on March 15 occurred at a time in which the vaccine supply in San Mateo County has actually decreased. 

As this week marks the one-year anniversary of our collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, I am so glad to be sharing that 164,388 of our residents have received vaccinations and this is 25.6% of our adult population.

Please read or reread my previous statements below to get a better understanding of where we find ourselves today and actions you can take to protect yourselves and your family. 

Please read or reread my previous statements below to get a better understanding of where we find ourselves today and actions you can take to protect yourselves and your family. 

Please read or reread my previous statements below to get a better understanding of where we find ourselves today and actions you can take to protect yourselves and your family.  

Please read or reread my previous statements below to get a better understanding of where we find ourselves today and actions you can take to protect yourselves and your family.  

Please read or reread my previous statements below to get a better understanding of where we find ourselves today and actions you can take to protect yourselves and your family.  

Please read or reread my previous statements below to get a better understanding of where we find ourselves today and actions you can take to protect yourselves and your family.  

Please read or reread my statements below from 4/13/20, 3/23/20, 3/16/20, 3/10/20, 3/5/20, and 2/27/20 to get a better understanding of where we find ourselves today and actions you can take to protect yourselves and your family.  

Please read or reread my statements below from 3/23/20, 3/16/20, 3/10/20, 3/5/20, and 2/27/20 to get a better understanding of where we find ourselves today and actions you can take to protect yourselves and your family.  

The bulk of what I want to tell you is in my slightly modified March 5 statement below.  Please re-read it slowly and carefully and consider your next actions. Over the last long weeks, I have been faced with unanswerable dilemmas and conundrums daily. I have been asked to make significant policy decisions with very little information on which to base them. I have 35 years of experience as a physician, and almost 30 years of experience in local public health, more local public health experience than almost anyone in our state.