Borrego Sun - Since 1949

Keep moving forward, folks. We will soon be back to normal, but for now, we must keep going.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention loosened the mask guidance for those who are fully vaccinated as well as those unvaccinated. However, many question how safe it is yet, as well as the question of “how will you know who is vaccinated or not?”

The state continues to ramp up vaccinations, and the vaccine will soon open for children 12 and over, but there is no time-table set.

California has 3.76 million confirmed cases and over 62,000 deaths.

San Diego County is also working to make vaccines more accessible, offering walk-up, no appointment vaccines, as well as more pop-up sites being opened and expanded hours.

Despite all these efforts, San Diego County will not make it to the yellow tier by June 15. However, June 15 is when the color-coded tiers will be eliminated, which Governor Gavin Newsom announced last month. The color-coded system is made up of four tiers that was implemented back in August of last year.

San Diego County has 277,949 confirmed cases and 3,725 deaths as of May 10, 8 a.m.

May 9, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 277,949. Deaths: 3,725.

May 8, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 277,759. Deaths: 3,725.

May 7, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 277,533. Deaths: 3,718.

- San Diego County leaders unveil new program that will allow local establishments to host pop-up COVID-19 vaccine sites.

- San Diego to remain in the state’s orange tier in its color-coded reopening system. Supervisor Fletcher said he is “not optimistic” the county will move tiers before June 15, when the tiers will be eliminated.

May 6, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 277,323. Deaths: 3,716.

- San Diego County surpasses three million COVID-19 administered vaccine doses.

- County also continues to make vaccines more accessible, opening more pop-up sites and expanding hours.

May 5, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 277,097. Deaths: 3,716.

- Appointment is no longer required for the COVID-19 vaccine at the pharmacies of Walmart, Sam’s Club, and CVS.

May 4, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 276,878. Deaths: 3,713.

May 3, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 276,692. Deaths: 3,712.

May 2, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 276,520. Deaths: 3,712.

May 1, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 276,366. Deaths: 3,706.

April 30, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 276,156. Deaths: 3,702.

April 29, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 275,960. Deaths: 3,700.

April 28, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 275,820. Deaths: 3,698.

- San Diego County reaches two milestones: 1. More than one million residents are fully vaccinated & 2. County is about halfway to its vaccination goal of getting shots to 75% of the population.

- The vaccine will soon be open to children over 12-years-old.

- “Our message to San Diegans is there are now vaccines available both via the appointment system and via the drop-in alternative at 23 different locations around San Diego County,” County District 4 Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said. “So we encourage a lot of folks who may have gotten frustrated with the inability to get a spot to go to our website, look at the array, the times, the locations and take advantage of those.”

- The CDC eased mask-wearing guidance for those who are fully vaccinated. The state and county agreed with the guidance. Under the new guidelines, fully vaccinated people do not need to use a mask when outdoors with members of their own household, when they are outdoors with a small group of both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, or when their dining indoors with multiple households. Masks are still required for people at larger gatherings or when in crowded areas.

- Guidance also loosened for those who are unvaccinated; the CDC said that it’s safe to be unmasked when walking, running or biking outdoors with members of your household or you attend a small, outdoor gathering with fully vaccinated family and friends.

April 27, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 275,684. Deaths: 3,692.

- The county’s vaccine breakdown:

1,396,758 San Diego County residents had received at least one shot of Pfizer or Moderna, or 69.2% of those eligible to get the vaccine in our region.

950,045 San Diegans – or 47.1% of locals age 16 and up – had been fully vaccinated, with two doses or Pfizer or Moderna, one dose of J&J.

- The county also began offering walk-up, no appointment-required vaccinations at all county-hosted vaccination sites.

April 26, 2021:

- Confirmed County COVID-19 numbers: 275,540. Deaths: 3,692.

- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gives the OK to resume the administration of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. California also gave the approval.

* Number of COVID-19 Cases in San Diego County, sandiegocounty.gov. Information/statistics stated in this article are as of print time, May 10, 8 a.m.