Covid-19 update: State expands vaccine availability, Santa Clara County morgues near capacity

Here are the latest Covid-19 developments from around the Bay Area Region.

Following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state’s expansion of its vaccination plan, it was announced Wednesday that all California residents 65 and older are now eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

The state’s working groups overseeing vaccine distribution made the decision in alignment with CDC’s recommendation that states begin vaccinating everyone aged 65 and older rather than segmenting them based on underlying medical conditions.

So far, the state has rolled out the vaccine in phases, targeting the most at-risk demographics like health care workers and nursing home staff and residents first.

As of Monday, 816,673 coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered, according to state officials. The state had recorded 2,781,039 cases and 31,102 deaths as of 5:30 p.m. Monday.

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Mobile Covid-19 testing units are expected to arrive in five Bay Area counties in the coming weeks. The intent is to making testing more accessible to residents without burdening public health systems.

BusTest Express, founded by executives of the passenger transportation company Storer Transportation, launched in December and is currently providing coronavirus tests in Southern California and the Central Valley.

The company’s first mobile testing site in the Bay Area recently opened in Berkeley with a testing capacity of up to 500 residents per day between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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Morgues in Santa Clara County are almost at full capacity, health leaders said Tuesday.

Three local morgues have already reported that they can no longer store bodies, and four others are nearly full.

To address the shortage of space, the county has brought in three refrigerated trailers that can hold up to 60 bodies. Two trailers are located at the county medical examiner’s office and the other is at Bay Area Mortuary Services in San Jose.

The sobering news comes as the county faces increased Covid-19 cases and deaths.

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Santa Clara County officials warned this week of unofficial texts inviting residents to make a vaccination appointment in the county.

The texts wrongfully claim an “extra” supply of vaccines and provides a link to register for one of the county’s vaccination sites.

To the county’s knowledge, someone was able to access the link that goes to the state’s vaccination platform, CalVax, and texted that link to an untold amount of people.

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As of Wednesday, at 5:30 p.m., officials have confirmed the following number of cases around the state-defined Bay Area region:

• Alameda County: 62,943 cases, 776 deaths (62,046 cases, 763 deaths on Tuesday) (Totals include Berkeley Health Department data.)
• Contra Costa County: 49,082 cases, 395 deaths (48,449 cases, 392 deaths on Tuesday)
• Marin County: 11,126 cases, 148 deaths (11,038 cases, 146 deaths on Tuesday) (Totals include San Quentin State Prison.)
• Monterey County: 34,072 cases, 248 deaths (33,761 cases, 247 deaths on Tuesday)
• Napa County: 6,942 cases, 38 deaths (6,880 cases, 37 deaths on Tuesday)
• San Francisco County: 27,255 cases, 235 deaths (27,000 cases, 235 deaths on Tuesday)
• San Joaquin County: 54,796 cases, 736 deaths (53,994 cases, 724 deaths on Tuesday)
• San Mateo County: 29,664 cases, 268 deaths (29,199 cases, 268 deaths on Tuesday)
• Santa Clara County: 87,045 cases, 1,011 deaths (84,726 cases, 944 deaths on Tuesday)
• Santa Cruz County: 11,275 cases, 111 deaths (11,010 cases, 111 deaths on Tuesday)
• Solano County: 23,889 cases, 105 deaths (23,554 cases, 103 deaths on Tuesday)
• Sonoma County: 21,627 cases, 219 deaths (21,627 cases, 219 deaths on Tuesday)