Starting Monday teachers and support staff in the Manteca Unified School District will need to be fully vaccinated against COIVID-19 or submit to weekly testing.

Those among more than 2,000 employees that don’t comply with the mandate handed down by the state will not be allowed to work or be paid.

The mandate comes as Mantecas positive COVID test numbers continue to drop from a high of 76 two weeks ago. The latest data compiled by the district lists 48 students and 3 teachers and/or support staff that were positive as of Sept. 23. That is out of a combined total of 26,000 students and staff.

The state rules that Manteca Unified is legally obligated to follow require everyone on a school campus — fully vaccinated or not — to wear face masks.

Since mid-August there have been 20 more deaths in Manteca, Ripon, and Lathrop attributed to COVID.

That includes 14 more in Manteca to push the death toll to 138 since the pandemic started in mid-March 2020. Four more people passing has brought Ripon’s death count to 27 while Lathrop recorded two more deaths for its death toll to reach 25.

Based on those 18 and older 70.6 percent of Manteca is fully vaccinated plus 9.2 percent partially vaccinated. Numbers for Lathrop are 82.6 percent fully vaccinated plus 9.8 percent partially vaccinated, for Ripon its 64 percent fully vaccinated plus 7.5 percent partially vaccinated, for Tracy 81.1 percent fully vaccinated plus 10.5 partially vaccinated, and for Escalon 87.7 percent fully vaccinated and 11.7 partially vaccinated.

Countywide the fully vaccinated rate us at 56.7 percent with 8.7 percent partially vaccinated.

Some 58.8 percent of Californians are vaccinated and another 12.7 percent partially vaccinated.

Nationally 56 percent of the targeted population has been vaccinated and 9 percent partially vaccinated.

There are currently 59 people in Manteca with COVID, 20 in Lathrop and 25 in Ripon.

Since the pandemic started Manteca has had 9,181 cases, Lathrop 3,089, and Ripon 1,829.

San Joaquin County Public Health Officer Dr. Maggie Park on Tuesday told the Board of Supervisors that COVID-19 case rates and hospitalizations continue to show promising declines throughout the County. Park reported that case rates as compared to the height of the Delta variant surge, continues to drop steadily, but it is still quite high at 26.7 daily cases per 100,000 population.

, “I’m happy to report that hospitalizations continue to show steady decline since the peak of the Delta variant in August,” Park said. “Additionally, mortality rates remained stable over the past few months. In fact, the County did not see spikes in mortality proportionate to spikes in infections and hospitalizations from the Delta variant, which can be attributed to an increase in vaccinations.”

To date there have been 95,158 total COVID-19 cases and 1,642 deaths countywide. There are currently 183 people hospitalized with 64 people in ICU and 56 people on ventilators.

County hospitals remain at 100% capacity, but only 48% of hospital ICU beds are filled by COVID-19 patients.

 When it comes to booster shots, Park told the Board that San Joaquin County is following the CDC and FDA guidelines, which recommends the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster vaccine be administered six months or later from the date of the primary vaccine series for those age 65 years and older, long-term care residents, and those age 50-64 with underlying medical conditions or those who are at increased risk of social inequities.

 Additionally, the County will follow the CDC and FDA guidelines for those who may consider receiving a booster, which includes people age 18-49 with underlying medical conditions, or those who are at increased risk of exposure due to their occupational setting. High-risk occupational settings include first responders (healthcare, firefighters, police, and congregate care staff), educational staff, and workers in food and agriculture, manufacturing, corrections, postal services, public transit, and grocery services.

 Park also said COVID-19 testing remains a priority. The County continues to operate 16 fixed sites, 10 of which are equipped to administer rapid testing along with PCR tests. The County also still dispatches mobile testing vans to high-traffic and underserved communities around the County. All information about the County’s vaccination and testing facilities can be found at www.sjready.org. 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com