Week in review: Vaccine brings new hope in virus fight [The Record, Stockton, Calif]
A vaccine that comes at possibly the darkest period yet in the coronavirus pandemic is bringing new hope and the prospect of a break for area and state hospitals under siege by a crush of critical coronavirus patients.
More: First San Joaquin County frontline health care workers receive COVID-19 vaccine
By week’s end, as the county’s death toll had hit 561 and California recorded more than 41,000 new cases and 300 deaths in a single day Friday, health care workers were continuing to receive the new Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The rollout will continue over the coming days, weeks and months in phases, with the highest risk first in line. By phase 4, everyone in the U.S. should have a chance for the shot.
By week’s end, as the county’s death toll had hit 561 and California recorded more than 41,000 new cases and 300 deaths in a single day Friday, health care workers were continuing to receive the new Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The rollout will continue over the coming days, weeks and months in phases, with the highest risk first in line. By phase 4, everyone in the U.S. should have a chance for the shot.
“Hope is springing up everywhere,” Dr. Scott Neeley, vice president and chief medical officer at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton, said in a virtual community update Friday. “We can see the light at the end of the tunnel with respect to this pandemic, but we have to stay safe together.”
In-Shape Health Clubs has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because of the coronavirus and resulting lockdown orders imposed by the state.
The Stockton-based company founded some 40 years ago said it will continue day-to-day operations at clubs currently open outdoors statewide, including the West Lane location on Bianchi Road in Stockton, In-Shape Tracy Blvd. and the Manteca In-Shape on Yosemite Avenue. In-Shape Health Clubs on Hammer Lane and March Lane in Stockton and In-Shape Lodi remain temporarily closed, though outdoor fitness in Lodi is scheduled to open soon. In Stockton, In-Shape Marina, In-Shape Downtown and In-Shape Quail Lakes have closed permanently, as have the Lathrop, Manteca West, Tracy 11th Street and Tracy Grant Line clubs. In March, the company closed its downtown Stockton headquarters.