The United States has just passed 500,000 deaths due to Covid-19. That death toll is higher than U.S. deaths in World War 1 (116,516) , World War 2 (405,400), and the Vietnam War (58.220).

San Diego County has administered 20,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine daily, which has outpaced the supply effort, according to Superintendent/President of Palomar College, Jack Kahn. As Covid-19 cases start to drop in the United States, it is important that Americans continue to get the vaccine.

According to covid19.ca.gov, 7,437,925 vaccines have been administered in California. 716,280 vaccines have been administered in San Diego County.

Updates for the Covid-19 Vaccine in your County: https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccines/

California has 3.53 million Covid-19 cases and 49,345 deaths. California is the state with the highest amount of cases.

U.S. Covid-19 cases by state: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1102807/coronavirus-covid19-cases-number-us-americans-by-state/

In San Diego County, the best available super stations to get vaccinated are at Petco Park, Grossmont Center, Sharp Health Care South Bay in Chula Vista, Cal State San Marcos, and the newest one University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Some superstations are closing temporarily because of low supply in vaccines.

Palomar College employees have indicated that it was easy to schedule appointments for a vaccine at Kaiser Permanente. Now Kaiser has a limited supply of the vaccine because of the immunization of Phase 1 qualifiers (health care workers) and people 65 or older.

Dr.Patrick Savaiano, who is the Interim Director for Health Services at Palomar College, and the Co-Leader of the Covid-19 Response Action Team (CRAT) said in a Zoom interview, “this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a disease like this and it probably won’t be the last,”.

Caption: Dr. Patrick Savaiano, the Interim Director of Health Services at Palomar College

Sarah Adams, Family Nurse Practitioner at Palomar College, who works with Savaiano said in a Zoom interview, “Palomar College strongly recommends that people do get vaccinated for Covid,”. Adams mentioned that vaccines have worked effectively to treat viruses such as Small-Pox and Polio. “We have vaccines to thank and science to thank for them not being around,” said Savaiano in response to what Adams mentioned about Small-Pox and the Polio viruses.

Caption: Sarah Adams, Family Nurse Practitioner at Palomar College

Although it is hard to treat patients with Covid-19, it is better if you can prevent it from spreading by getting the Covid-19 vaccine than becoming sick with it. Savaiano said that vaccines have helped create immunity to deadly viruses in the past so it is the best thing we have now to create immunity against Covid-19.

The United Kingdom (UK) Variant, also known as Lineage B.1.1.7, is very prominent in California. According to a NBC7 San Diego article, 500 cases of the UK variant are in California, and 20% of those cases are in San Diego County.

“Palomar College recommends you get the vaccine regardless of the variants,” Adams says. There isn’t enough research that has been done to confirm that the Covid-19 vaccine is close to 100% in effectiveness against the new variants. “There is so much to be learned about the variants,” Savaiano says.

Adams and Savaiano would recommend getting vaccinated to prevent you from spreading the original Covid-19 virus and let more information about the variants come out as soon as they can.

Adams and Savaiano do online appointments with Palomar College students through TeleHealth. They want to make sure every student is being treated properly. They want every student to be aware of their physical health as we go through an international pandemic.

Savaiano and Adams said that they have made appointments with students to guide them to the right facilities if they have or think they have been exposed to Covid-19. “I’ve had students call me asking me if they think they’ve had an exposure,” Adams said.

If you need any help identifying if you’ve been exposed to Covid-19 or just identifying a health concern, don’t be afraid to call the Student Health Center at Palomar College.

Link to the Student Health Center website: https://www.palomar.edu/healthservices/

Savaiano also works well with the Behavioral Health Counseling Services at Palomar College. Savaiano is a licensed psychologist and originally worked as the Assistant Director of Behavioral Health Counseling Services. He recommends students to contact these counseling services if you’re feeling stressed or developing any type of mental discomfort.

Link to the Behavioral Health Counseling Services website: https://www.palomar.edu/bhcs/

Savaiano and Adams want to make sure that Palomar students are staying healthy and safe during this pandemic and are here to help.

Dr. Patrick Savaiano’s email: [email protected]

Sarah Adams email: [email protected]