Feb. 21 was 10th straight day of new COVID-19 cases below 1,000 in San Diego County

Coronavirus case rates continued their decline locally in San Diego County, while ongoing vaccine shipment delays forced the closure of one county-run vaccination superstation on Monday, Feb. 22, while other vaccination stations are offering second doses only.

In the 92028 ZIP code, which includes Rainbow and De Luz, county data shows a case rate of 24.5 coronavirus cases per 100,000 during the week of Jan. 31-Feb. 6, the most recent week for which data is available – down from 42.0 the prior week. There were 84 new reported COVID-19 cases in 92028 between Jan. 31-Feb. 6, and there have been 3,431 total reported cases since the start of the pandemic.

The county combines Bonsall’s 92003 ZIP code with neighboring Vista, given Bonsall’s low population; that combined area showed a case rate of 41.3 per 100,000 as of Jan. 31-Feb. 6, down from 60.2 the week prior, and there were 155 new reported COVID-19 cases Jan. 31-Feb. 6. The Bonsall-Vista area was showing 4,798 total cases as of Feb. 22.

In San Diego County, there were 517 new coronavirus cases reported Sunday, Feb. 21, increasing the number of COVID-19 infections to 257,030 since the pandemic began, while the death toll increased to 3,190.

Feb. 21 was also the 10th consecutive day with cases below 1,000.

Of 18,194 tests reported the day before on Saturday, Feb. 21, 4% returned positive.

Three community outbreaks were reported Feb. 21, with 26 reported in the past week and 102 cases associated with those outbreaks.

The Petco Park superstation in downtown San Diego was entirely closed for at least Feb. 22 as of press time; appointments for second doses on Feb. 19-22 were canceled and will be

automatically rescheduled.

As many as several hundred vaccination appointments scheduled at Petco Park were postponed, owing to delayed vaccine shipments from the Midwest and East Coast.

Currently, all county COVID-19 vaccination points of dispensing and the North County Super Station in San Marcos are offering appointments for second doses only. Appointments for first doses at these sites are being rescheduled into next week.

County public health officials said they were ready to administer delayed doses as soon as they arrive.

“We have the mechanism in place to be able to administer all the doses we get in San Diego County,'' Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer, said Friday, Feb. 20. “In the meantime, we're asking San Diegans to be patient. As the delayed doses arrive, we will administer them to everyone who has an appointment and release new time slots.''

The Sharp HealthCare vaccination superstation sites at Chula Vista Center and Grossmont Center are still offering first and second dose appointments with Pfizer vaccine.

The massive winter storm gripping much of the nation has frozen supply lines for the vaccines. Moderna produces the bulk of its vaccines in Massachusetts, while Pfizer makes its in Michigan. Sub-freezing temperatures across much of the United States have delayed shipments of the vials around the country.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised that people can wait up to 42 days between doses and still achieve maximum immunity.

As of Friday, of the 779,000 vaccine doses the county has received, 705,985 have been administered, more than 5,000 are awaiting processing and 67,000 are yet to be administered. A total of 18.5% of San Diego County's population over the age of 16 have received at least one dose and 6.4% are fully inoculated.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Will Fritz can be reached by email at [email protected].