California ended the emergency declaration it issued 3 years ago when COVID-19 affected millions of people, however, experts assure that the deadly virus is still a danger, so they assure that now it is more important to take the necessary precautions to avoid a new wave of infections.
WHAT DOES THE END OF THE EMERGENCY DECLARATION MEAN?
With this statement, Governor Newsom implemented a plan known as Smarter with the aim of making the right decisions that, according to experts, helped save lives through massive testing centers and later vaccination campaigns.
However, most of these massive services came to an end several months ago and now the state is ending the rest of the emergency services so that now each person can take charge of their own health care through their medical providers.
But the big question is what will happen to free COVID-19 vaccine and testing services?
Vaccines have been an important part in the fight against COVID-19 since they offer protection, which, although it does not prevent contagion, does prevent the symptoms from being stronger.
However, with the elimination of vaccination centers, the state will no longer be in charge of these services.
“Now it will be part of routine health care. So for those people who decide to make the effort in the future, they can do it through local pharmacies or through their health care provider,” explained Diana Dávila, spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Health Department.
Medical experts assure that now more than ever it is important that people take care of themselves and take the necessary measures to avoid contagion.
“The coronavirus is going to stay with us. How often will it affect us? With recent years of experience, we see that it can affect us more or less every six months and unfortunately every six months we can get sick,” said Orlando Quintero, an infection doctor at Stanford University.
For this reason, it is extremely important that people get vaccinated and also get vaccine boosters.
“Now that we have started this phase that we have already called outside the emergency, I believe that each person already knows what the virus is, each person already knows what it is to take care of themselves with a mask, each person knows what it is to keep their distance and Right now I think it is the responsibility of each person,” Quintero said.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE MEDICAL COVERAGE
“The county remains committed to those who do not have health insurance and the Covid vaccination would not be the only thing they may have to consider for their health care. So the county will continue to help evaluate them with those health care options,” Dávila said.
This could be through community clinics and other health programs, everything will depend on each case.
