Fort Bragg, CA – On Friday night, February 19, Mendocino Coast Clinics (MCC) Executive Director Lucresha Renteria received a call offering 800 extra doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The MCC staff had just completed a vaccine event giving 211 Pfizer vaccines and despite the late hour and short notice, Renteria said yes.  The planning process started and calls were made on Saturday to businesses in the approved tiers and community members eligible for the vaccine. This has been the story since the beginning of the pandemic: because MCC has the relationships and infrastructure to serve coastal residents quickly, MCC is called upon to get the job done.

“I am happy we can do it,” Renteria said. “That’s why we’re here, to serve our community. Of course, it would be nice if we could get a little more advance notice, but that’s the nature of the situation–everything is changing constantly.”

This week, MCC is holding four vaccine clinics; the only day MCC is not vaccinating at some level is Thursday. The clinics on Tuesday and on Friday are the large 400 vaccine events. The target for these events are for the following groups: people aged 65 years and older, emergency medical responders, school and childcare staff, food workers and agricultural workers. Specifically, this includes those directly involved in growing, harvesting, production, preparing, selling, cooking and serving food products as well as cannabis and lumber. Appointments are needed for the vaccine clinics; you can call (707)964-1251 to be put on a waiting list if no appointments are available at the time you call. “We know what we have for this week but we still don’t know about next week”, Renteria said.

Since people began receiving vaccines in Mendocino County, COVID-19 cases have begun to drop countywide, but medical professionals encourage everyone to remain vigilant. MCC Medical Director Dr. Lawrence Goldyn said, “We still need to keep wearing masks in public, maintain our physical distancing and wash our hands frequently.”

MCC also continues to provide free, drive-through surveillance testing every Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon by appointment. Those interested can call (707) 964-1251 to schedule a test. Recipients need not be MCC patients. Mendocino County Public Health is also providing surveillance testing every Tuesday on the coast via their mobile OptumServe testing team. For details and to register, visit lhi.care/covidtesting. For more information, call the Mendocino County COVID Call Center at (707) 472-2759 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

As a reminder, when people test positive for COVID-19, they are required to isolate at home for 10 days or until their symptoms are resolved, whichever is longer. Members of their household along with other close contacts must quarantine for 14 days. For the latest Mendocino County coronavirus updates, visit www.mendocinocounty.org/community/novel-coronavirus.