Editors’ Note: Data from this article is sourced from Alameda County’s COVID-19 Dashboard, which you can find here. Numbers are constantly fluctuating and may have changed since the time of the release of this article.

As COVID-19 vaccine dose distributions roll out across the country, Alameda County has received over 240,000 doses of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (as of Feb. 23th). Over 390,000 vaccines have been administered by either private hospitals partnering with the county, the Alameda County Public Health Department, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency. With a 95% effectiveness according to test trials by either company, it’s likely that the widespread vaccinations for teachers, as directed by Fremont Unified School District, will allow FUSD to undergo partial reopening procedures as early as March, such as learning hubs (on-campus distance learning) discussed in the Board of Education meeting on Feb. 24th.

The distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine has been made according to Alameda County’s “Vaccine Prioritization Framework,” which comprises a series of phases that detail which demographics will be getting the vaccines first as well as the time frame they are to do so. The vaccines require two doses with several weeks in between each dose to work to full efficacy, which contributes to the amount of time required to administer the vaccine. Out of the 242,000 doses that Alameda received, over 175,000 doses have been allocated to private organizations partnering with the county; the rest are handled by the county’s health department and federal organizers.

According to the Alameda County’s website on COVID-19 planning, which was last updated on Feb. 5th, the county is still working on fulfilling its first few phases (Phase 1A Tier 1, 2, & 3) that had healthcare workers, residents of age-related care facilities, and caregivers at the top of the prioritization list. However, the county has already taken large steps into Phase 1B, which consists of giving out vaccinations to essential workers in education, emergency services, agriculture, and those above the age of 65. In the Feb. 24th board meeting, FUSD announced it has already invited over 2000 teachers to get vaccinated. Teachers have already begun to fill out scheduling forms for their vaccinations, and many have even received their vaccine. 

“At first I felt a good amount of frustration at vaccine rollout […] up until a week ago only about half of the vaccines received by the county were being administered,” said Mr. David Martinez, a history teacher at Irvington who received his vaccination. “But rollout [has] been accelerated and now I’m hearing many more people talk about receiving the vaccine. It was faster than expected; the vaccination process for [my] first dose only took around half an hour.”

As of now, details about planning on Alameda County’s website are not entirely up to date, due to California’s website on COVID-19 planning not detailing steps beyond Phase 1B, which is what the county largely modeled its plan after. Fremont’s City’s own web page containing alerts about the vaccine is also outdated, with its last update being on Jan. 21st.

Due to the Pfizer vaccine only being available to people above the age of 16, and the Moderna vaccine only being available to those above the age of 18, the effect that vaccine distribution will have on plans to reopen schools is likely to be slightly dampered. Testing is still needed to determine its effectiveness and safety on younger children before vaccine doses are administered to them. However, minors are not in the age demographic that is particularly susceptible to COVID-19 (65+ years of age), so vaccination rollout is still likely to prompt major reopening across the Fremont Unified School District, if new cases drop to 4.0-7.0 per 100k citizens. Other districts in California are likely to see the same results if California Governor Gavin Newson’s push to reopen schools follows through. 

Residents of Fremont that are included in the demographics scheduled to receive their vaccinations in Phases 1A and 1B can see if they are eligible by contacting their healthcare provider or checking MyTurn, a federal website that organizes when people are eligible for vaccinations. A large amount of vaccines are being administered at the Oakland Coliseum, which is federally organized, along with pharmacies and hospitals.

As for the general public, vaccine doses are not expected to be rolled out until the county receives the number of doses necessary, which will be entirely dependent on the rate at which the vaccine companies produce new vaccines and how quickly the state provides vaccines to counties.

To see if you are qualified for vaccination, visit myturn.ca.gov.

For more information on reopening, go to FUSD Reopening Plans.