Vaccines now available to residents 16 and up; County moves into less-restrictive orange tier

I’m pleased to report that on Tuesday the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved eligibility for all residents ages 16 and up to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, effective immediately.

“We have the capacity to get it done, and it’s time we give everyone the opportunity to get vaccinated,” said interim Public Health Director Andrew Goldfrach. “We are ready to adjust our operations and facilitate more vaccinations.”

I’d like to commend our County for the progress we’ve made in getting the vaccines distributed. We have a huge amount of rural area to cover, unlike smaller condensed counties such as Los Angeles. In fact, at 20,105 square miles, we are the largest county in the contiguous United States! 

Several COVID-19 vaccination clinics are planned in the First District this week at the following locations:

• Wednesday, April 7: Barstow Senior Center, 555 Melissa Ave., Barstow, CA 92311. One-Dose Appointment / Johnson & Johnson Vaccine. Register here.
• Thursday, April 8: Helendale Community Services District, 26540 Vista Rd., Helendale, CA 92342. One-Dose Appointment / Johnson & Johnson Vaccine. Register here.
• Friday, April 9: Trona Library, 82805 Mountain View St., Trona. One-Dose Appointment / Johnson & Johnson Vaccine. Register here.
• Friday, April 9: Friendly Temple Church of God, 16570 E St, Victorville, CA. One-Dose Appointment / Johnson & Johnson Vaccine. Call (760) 241-9900 for reservations.
• There are also several available appointments at Hook Community Center in Victorville and Hesperia Health Center in Hesperia today through Saturday for the Pfizer vaccine.
• Enrolled Veterans at VA Loma Linda Medical Center can walk in, or make an appointment for the Janssen single-dose clinic from 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. today through Friday. Ages 18+. Call 909-825-7084 ext. 5085 to make an appointment.

San Bernardino County is continuing to focus on vaccinating individuals in our hardest-hit communities, including prioritizing skilled nursing facilities where new patients and staff continue to cycle through the units.

County moves into Orange Tier today

Today, April 7, San Bernardino County moves into the Orange Tier. Following are some of the changes you can expect:

• Restaurant capacity increases to a maximum of 50% or 200 people, whichever is fewer
• Wineries, Breweries, Distilleries can resume indoor service at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
• Bars without food service can reopen outdoors with safety modifications
• Museums, Zoos, Aquariums can increase indoor capacity to 50%
• Movie Theater capacity increases to 50% or 200 people, whichever is fewer
• Family Entertainment Centers & Bowling Alleys can resume indoors at 25% capacity – or at 50% if guests are tested or show proof of full vaccination, per the California Department of Public Health
• Amusement Parks capacity increases to 25% with in-state visitors only
• Outdoor Live Events with assigned seats can increase to 33% with in-state visitors only
• Indoor Retail can return to 100% capacity