At least one city official believes a major vaccination site in East San Jose was shut down too early, but local community leaders aren’t so sure. Rolando Bonilla, chair of the San Jose Planning Commission who nearly died of COVID-19, is sounding the warning call about the growing number of positive coronavirus infections in East San Jose...
Silicon Valley health care workers need COVID shots or weekly tests
With coronavirus cases on the rise, California health care workers must now be vaccinated or get tested weekly for COVID-19 and wear masks, in accordance with a new state policy announced Monday. The policy follows a statewide surge in COVID-19 infection rates due to the Delta variant, now the dominant strain in California. As of this month, 80% of new...
Santa Clara County wants employers to require vaccines for employees
Health officers from three Bay Area counties announced Thursday that they want all employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with few exceptions. “With the rise in COVID-19 cases leaving unvaccinated individuals at risk for serious illness and death, the health officers of Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties strongly...
Masks recommended indoors again in Santa Clara County
Bay Area health officials are now urging all residents to mask up when indoors out of rising concerns of the highly-infectious Delta variant. Santa Clara County, joined by a coalition of six other Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley, recommends all residents resume wearing masks inside—regardless of vaccination status. “Out of an abundance...
No Delta variant spike in Santa Clara County—yet
One month ago, millions of Californians celebrated the end of COVID-19 restrictions and mask mandates. But a new variant of the virus poses an outbreak threat that some experts say is only a matter of time. While people took their masks off for the first time in a year, COVID-19 spread and mutated, mainly among unvaccinated people. Now,...
Santa Clara County revises total COVID deaths by over 20%
Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 death toll dropped by 22% this month. That’s not a mistake—last Friday, county health officials announced a narrower criteria for deaths attributable to COVID-19, which excluded about 500 fatalities previously attributed to the disease. A similar change took place in neighboring Alameda County last month, when officials updated their COVID-19 death definitions....
San Jose closing in on herd immunity for COVID-19
San Jose has partially vaccinated 85% of eligible residents for COVID-19, becoming the first major American city to reach the milestone, according to Mayor Sam Liccardo. Whether that constitutes herd immunity remains to be seen. In partnering with Santa Clara County, the most populous city in the Bay Area has partially vaccinated more than 740,000 residents...
South Bay government agencies won’t mandate vaccines
Unlike their counterparts in San Francisco, Santa Clara County government employees won’t be required to get COVID-19 shots any time soon. Last month, San Francisco announced all 35,000-plus city workers will be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine once one is fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “The city and county of San...
Vaccination site that served hard-hit East San Jose closes
While Santa Clara County remains optimistic about its vaccine goal, some vaccination sites around the South Bay are closing down—including one in Mexican Heritage Plaza. The walk-up clinic, which first opened in late January, has been an essential vaccination site for East San Jose, an area hit harder by the pandemic than any other part of Santa Clara...
Social Security office closures cause headaches for San Jose residents
While California lifted most of its coronavirus restrictions in June allowing for increased capacity indoors, Social Security Administration offices remain closed for walk-ins indefinitely. In March 2020, the administration closed its offices as a preventive measure to stop the spread of COVID-19. Since then, the agency doubled down its online and phone services to support most...