CoViD-19: Skip The Guilt, Get Your Vax When You're Eligible | Fauci "Don't Declare Victory" | More On San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance | Comic-Con 2021 Remains Online | Stream Fanboy on Amazon |

Today is World Wildlife Day (Taken at San Diego Zoo 2.18.21)

I'm finding it so curious that I'm seeing news story after news story that San Diego may be moving tiers "as early as next week" as I read online. Nathan Fletcher alluded to modifications of the formulation of the tier system by the state because they were set before vaccines were available, so the projections of X amount of cases today doesn't necessarily translate to Y hospitalizations in 3-4 weeks. (At one point, the projection was 12% of all cases ended up hospitalized. That has dropped dramatically.) But for now, the old rules remain. "To advance, a county must meet criteria for movement to the next less restrictive for the prior two consecutive weeks in order to progress to the next tier; which can be achieved by either or combination of criteria described: Meeting the Adjusted Case Rate, Test Positivity, and Health Equity metric criteria for a less restrictive tier or meeting the criteria for movement to the next less restrictive tier through health equity accelerated progression." All of this still indicates we'd have to get red by Tuesday and stay there for a second week before we actually move to the red tier, but I guess it could all change should the tier system be modified. Tonight the state has indicated that in fact, 40% of vaccines will be reserved for certain zip codes, 1.6 million doses have already been distributed to those specific areas and the tiering could change once 2 million doses have been distributed, which could also mean the tier system stays the same but the offset could dramatically improve the "health equity accelerated progression." (Here's the AP News story that came out late Wednesday night. According to the article, moving from purple to red can happen at 10 cases per 100k instead of the current case/100k of 7. Right now, San Diego is still at 10.8)

In case I haven't been clear, I still think this would be a huge mistake. We messed up and let restaurants and bars open before and it meant that most schools never got to open. Can't we let this play out? Get the teachers vaccinated, get the schools open, then we can all go party at breweries, eat at restaurants, go to Padres games, and whatever else we're so desperately vying to do once we see community transmission is way down? I understand the political pressures, I understand the optics of trying to get things back to 'normal' before the March 13th anniversary of the first shutdown, and the rapid drop in cases is all good news, but I just feel like we need to slow our roll. 

Nothing else going on around here. We let the thunderstorm dictate our day and stayed in all day. Nova has opted to stay at my parents' house so we've been just lazing around staying warm and cozy. Last night I finished Ginny and Georgia on Netflix and I want more. Now I have to find something else to watch. And while talking about TV, you can now stream Fanboy on Amazon. Support Ben!! And stay safe out there...

• COVID-19: 
• Experts Are Warning Of A Potential Covid-19 Surge While Several Governors Are Loosening Restrictions - CNN (3.3.21)
• Anthony Fauci Pleads: Don’t Declare Victory. The Covidologist-in-chief says we can’t relax on masks and social distancing yet. Hear that, Texas? - Wired (3.3.21)
• Is it finally safe for California to reopen? It's happening fast, despite lingering risks - LA Times/Stars and Stripes (3.3.21)
  It has to be crystal clear that, yes, we are opening up — but that in no way means we can become complacent and start letting our guard down.
• Get the Vaccine When You're Eligible—Even if Some Older Folks Haven’t Yet. Public health experts are clear: There is no need to overthink eligibility guidelines with 4D morality chess. If you can get the COVID vaccine, do it. - Vice (3.3.21)
  ...the epidemiologists were unambiguously clear: From a public health perspective, all the concern trolling is unnecessary. If you can get the vaccine, you should absolutely get the vaccine. 
• Politics:
• DOD Took Hours To Approve National Guard Request During Capitol Riot, Commander Says - NPR/kpbs (3.3.21)
• House cancels Thursday session as FBI, Homeland Security warn of threat to Capitol - Axios (3.3.21)
• Police uncover ‘possible plot’ by militia to breach Capitol -AP News (3.3.21)
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, March 3, 2021
• Biden wants states to prioritize vaccinations for teachers in the month of March
• A Letter on the Annual Report on the Legal and Policy Frameworks for the United States’ Use of Military Force and Related National Security Operations
• Statement by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on 2021 Special Health Insurance Enrollment Period Coverage Progress  - Over 200k new enrollments so far
• Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials
• Local News:
• A New Name And New Mission For San Diego Zoo - kpbs (3.1.21)
  “For us to have a greater impact in conservation,” Beribault said, “we need to use this moment to energize everybody. All of our partners. All of our donors. All of our supporters here in San Diego to be a part of this solution.”
  The new focus doesn’t mean the two parks will be ignored.
  Beribault said those parks must thrive for the organization to stay financially healthy. (The only allusion to the drastic raising of membership prices)
• Comic-Con 2021 To Remain an Online Only Event
  While we are buoyed by the rollout of the vaccine and the growing number of individuals being inoculated, it appears that July will still be too early to safely hold an in-person event of the magnitude of Comic-Con. For this reason, we have made the challenging decision to postpone Comic-Con 2021 as an in-person gathering until our 2022 dates, and once again hold this year's celebration as the free online Comic-Con@Home.
• Watch this Fox News reporter covering the Comic-Con story while a downtown shootout ensues.
• Second Doses Are Priority at Local Vaccination Sites - County News Center (3.3.21)
• Press Briefing with County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher:
• Have made good progress. Case rates declining, leading in CA vaccinations
• We vaccinated the vaccinators, vaccinated health care workers, 70% of seniors, 100% of SNFs have had option to vaccinate, 93% of LTCF have had option to vaccinate.
• Looking to more progress to get into red tier in next few weeks. Must continue to drop case rates, slow the spread, and continue vaccinating, but California may adjust formulation, because when it originally developed x cases= y hospitalizations is different now than it was before. State could alter case rates to move into other tiers. What's allowed to open in red tier may also change. 
• Moderna vaccine shortage continues to be a problem. (It's time to INVESTIGATE MCKESSON)
• Otay Mesa is a walkup site with targeted Zip Codes for people within the vaccination priorities of child care, food handling, agriculture, and schools
• Media Questions:
• Numbers in SNFs and LTCF are trending down. Factors can be vaccines, adherence to health mitigations. 
• Vaccine supply is consistently erratic, consistently unpredictable.
• Petco Park is still in need of work to make it smoother and easier, but it will be wound down for baseball starting in April. 
• Even after vaccination, people still need to wear masks, wash hands, and social distance because we're a long way from herd immunity 
• Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 3/3/21 10:24pm):
• 115,165,467 Known Cases
• 2,559,576 Known Deaths
• US COVID-19 Stats 
• CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
• (JHU)
• 28,759,725 Cases
• 518,345 Deaths
• (COVID Tracking Project):
• 66,836 New Cases/28,520,365 Known Cases (1.6%+ Change over 7 Days)
• 2,449 New Deaths/508,665 Known Deaths
• 45,462 Current COVID-19 Hospitalizations
• 9,359 Currently COVID-19 patients in ICU
• 3,094 COVID-19 patients currently on ventilator
• California COVID-19 Stats:
• State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
• Vaccination progress dashboard
• Aggregate California ICU Bed Availability: 25.2%
• R-effective: 0.67
• 3,352 New Cases/3,484,963 Total Cases (0.1% increase)
• 278 New Deaths/52,775 Total Deaths (0.5% increase)
• 2.6% 14-day test positivity rate
• 5,110 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (-192 patients, -3.8% from prior day)
• 1,403 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (-49 patients, -3.5% from prior day)
• 2,024 ICU beds available (-84 from prior day)
• San Diego County 
• Free Testing Sites and Schedule in San Diego
• VaccinationSuperstationSD
• Vaccination Dashboard
• San Diego County Of Education School Reopening Dashboard
• State Data:
• Southern California ICU Bed Availability: 25.3%
• R-effective: 0.62
• 376 New Cases/260,998 Total Cases
• 14 Deaths/3,317 Total Deaths
• 11.3 cases/100k population (Assessed on 3/2. Unadjusted Case Rate)
• 4.2% Test Positivity (Assessed on 3/2)
• 6.0% Health Equity Positivity (Assessed on 3/2)
• 472 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (-42 patients, -8.2% from prior day)
• 149 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (-7 patients, -4.5% from prior day)
• 228 ICU beds available (-9 from prior day)
• County Data:
• San Diego County Update - County News Center 
• Influenza Watch- 701 Cases 
• 352 New Cases/261,353 Total Cases 
• 197 B117 Cases Identified in San Diego onset 12/14-2/9
• 25 New Daily Deaths/3,342 Total Deaths
• 1,067,675 Doses Received/945,859 Doses Administered
• 3% Daily Test Positivity/3.7% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)/3.7% Test Positivity (14-day average)
• 10.8 cases/100k population (Assessed on 3/2. Adjusted case rate per 100,000 excluding prisons.) 
• 93% Case Investigation 
• -8.9% Day Over Day COVID-19 Hospitalizations (412 patients. -67% over 30 days)
• 30% ICU Capacity (142 patients. -62% over 30 days)
• 54 Staffed ICU Beds Available
• 11 New/30 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
• Universities:
• SDSU COVID-19, UCSD COVID-19, USD COVID-19, CSU San Marcos, PLNU

Public Health Statement Regarding Favorable Court of Appeal Restaurant Ruling

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) is pleased that the Court of Appeal recognized that during a pandemic, it is vitally important for public health officials to quickly take affirmative measures to reduce transmission of COVID-19, in order to combat an ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.  The Court acknowledged that Public Health recognized that while temporarily restricting outdoor dining at restaurants would have an economic impact, the restriction was an appropriate exercise of public health discretion because dining with others creates a circumstance where non-household members are gathering in close proximity with each other without COVID-19 infection control precautions, such as face mask, thereby increasing the risk of transmission.  Importantly, the Court of Appeal found that the trial court stepped outside of a court’s appropriate role by “mandating a nebulous risk-benefit requirement” on public health decision-making.  This ruling will help public health officials continue to protect the health and safety of all Californians. (3/3/2021)