It was the 30th anniversary of Don Williamsโ African American Theater Arts Troupe, and their new production that is debuting online, that spurred the cover profile of the group and its founder this week. But this story is timely for so many other reasons, and the one I thought most about as I read Anna Maria Camardoโs piece was how it fits into Black activistsโ struggle to force a new reckoning with issues of racial justice and representation in this country via the Black Lives Matter movement. Iโve respected Williamsโ work for a long timeโAATAT started while I was at UCSC, and we wrote about it at City on a Hill while I was there (Camardo is also an alum of the paper, by the way), as well as at the local papers I worked at after that. But I never realized until reading this story how hard Williams had to fight even for this group to exist, that it was student protests that saved the program in the early 2000s, and that those protests were directly responsible for the establishment of UCSCโs Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center. The fact that three decades in, AATAT is still the only group in the whole UC system dedicated to Black theater really punctuates what a visionary and an arts activist Williams is.
But again, thereโs so much to this story, and a lot of it has to do with the love and respect that has built up around Williams over the years. If you were ever involved with AATAT, you definitely recognized the quote on the cover this week as his favorite saying. Hereโs to many more years of AATAT, and thanks to UCSCโs Susan Watrous for all her help with getting this story onto our cover this week.
So. Where does this all end? We have an admitted vocal minority that desires to erase anything they donโt agree with and one side who respects History for what it is, and that it is and to learn from it, good and bad. Do we now rename the city because Mr. Watson was a bit of an undesirable? What about names of Streets, Parks and Communities named after Spanish Banditos or others who may not have been Angelic? Cancel Culture is a very slippery slope and only causes division. Be an adult and if you donโt like something, pass it by, but to not deny others from their Rights to enjoy. Removing the Bust should require a refund of ALL money left to the City by Mr. Alaga in my opinion, Library funds also.
Geez, all of this is terrifying! I for one would love to see more oversight over the kinds of chemicals companies can use as pesticides, since winds and water run-off can easily lead to these dangerous compounds affecting the local environment and populations.
โย Josh
ย
ย
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
Submit to ph****@*******es.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.
GOOD IDEA
STICK SHIFT
METRO is now offering free rides to anyone coming to or from a Covid-19 vaccination appointment in Santa Cruz County. Riders will need to show proof of their appointment to the driver when getting on the bus, such as a picture, printout, or email confirming a vaccination appointment or a vaccine card. ParaCruz riders will need to specify that they are heading to a vaccination appointment when making their reservation to qualify for free fares. For more information, go to scmtd.com/en.
GOOD WORK
STEEP INCLINED
Itโs all in the name. Scotts Valleyโs Steeped Coffee is a local company that pre-grinds their coffee and serves it in biodegradable bags. Similar to tea, these bags are steeped in hot water. For their innovative packaging design, Steeped Coffee recently won the OnTrendยฎ Best of Show award at a natural and organic foods conference hosted by the wholesale food distributor KeHe. There were over 550 other providers at the show. You can learn more about Steeped Coffee at steepedcoffee.com.ย
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
โI think it was the ability of the theater to communicate ideas and extol virtues that drew me to it. And also, I was, and remain, fascinated by the idea of an audience as a community of people who gather willingly to bear witness.โ
Don Williams founded UCSCโs African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT) in 1991, and in three decades under his direction, the group has been a celebration of Black life, a historical record and a conduit for change.
โYou know, at times I believe that theater is more real than life itself,โ Williams says. โItโs a story that you have felt deep within you. You walk away with a different perspective. Now, youโve become a part of a greater process, a collective of folks who are trying to create a change.โ
AATAT is celebrating its 30th year this week with a new production of Jocelyn BiohโsSchool Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play. Directed by Williams, the play will run March 4-9 via online streaming, and its cast has been signing onto Zoom four nights a week to rehearse.
โThese young thespians, they definitely have the character down,โ Williams says. โYou know, they have the attitude. They have the spirit. And through their voice and through their sharpness and timing, I think people will find it pretty amusing to watch.โ
Despite the troupeโs new, pandemic-driven online format, its outreach traditions live on. In their signature style, Williams and the actors will host two live cast talk-backs on March 4 and 9. The second of these Zoom conversations will be aimed specifically at the Central Coast community of Seaside.
โEvery year we go there and perform on the Monterey Peninsula College main stage,โ Williams says. โWeโve been doing that for well over 27 years. So weโre trying to keep our family bond of servicing that particular area, as well.โ
AATATโs dedication to collectivity means students nominate plays to be considered for each seasonโs program. This year they wanted to choose something fun that also has realness to it, Williams says.
Fourth-year student and chair of the Cultural Arts and Diversity Center (CAD) Cameron Rivers hopes School Girls will bring levity along with its drama. She says the team wanted a play that, on top of being a Black story, had elements of humor.
โBecause in the environment weโre in right now, especially with Covid, everything seems so bleak, and kind of just out of our control,โ Rivers says. โSchool Girls is a way to uplift our audiences as well.โ
School Girls is set at the Aburi girlsโ school in Ghana. Based on Mark Watersโ 2004 film Mean Girls, the play is indeed generally lighthearted, but Biohโs script raises serious questions about womanhood and power. As the girls vy for the attention of a recruiter from the famous Miss Ghana pageant, they grapple with popularity, toxic beauty standards, social status and bullying.
At AATATโs Feb. 20 Anniversary Gala, participants got a preview of the upcoming show. In the scene performed at the event, Aburi School Headmistress Francis (Britani McBride) and pageant recruiter Eloise (Odeosa Eguavoen) deliberate which student should attend the pageant. Eloise insists they should select a girl with a โcommercial look,โ a girl who โfalls on the other end of the African skin spectrum.โ
Actress and AATAT alumna Niketa Calame-Harris says she appreciates that the scene touches on colorism, especially how it gets weaponized against Black women.
โThatโs not just an African issue. Thatโs an industry issue as well,โ Calame-Harris says. โI mean, you could see loads of interviews with Viola Davis and other actors dealing with microaggressions in the industry. Weโve come a long way, but, you know, still have a long way to go in that aspect.โ
Calame-Harris says that once when she was cast alongside another dark-skinned woman, producers questioned the decision, and seemed genuinely worried about casting two dark-skinned women. Nor are the prejudiced assumptions faced by Black actors limited to skin tone, she saysโthey extend even to hair texture.
โIf youโre natural, then is that a certain kind of character? Versus if you have straight hairโis that taken seriously, like a lead actor? Itโs all stuff that weโre slowly getting rid of,โ Calame-Harris says.
Never shying away from a nuanced conversation, AATAT encourages audiences to engage with the subtleties in their performances and connect the themes to their own lives.
Throughout the gala, the participantsโ enthusiasm and appreciation was palpable. Students quoted Williamsโ famous motivational catchphrases, sung his praises and cheered each other on in the live chat.
Gala organizers even arranged a few surprises. Congressman Jimmy Panetta immortalized AATATโs legacy by entering it into the Congressional Record. Actor and activist Danny Glover recorded a special message congratulating the members of AATAT for carving their own space when they did not see the richness of their cultures represented around them.
Dr. Ekua Omosupe captured the spirit of the evening with her poem titled โCommunity,โ which celebrated progress and generations of storytellers who have channeled love through education. She finished with lines that particularly resonate with the AATAT story: โIt is looking at who you are, who I am, sharing our stories, telling how far we have come, where we need to go, what we hope for. Can we get that together? Community, commune, communication, come in, come on into unity, make communion together, together in our strength, our weakness, vision, will, so be it.โ
Giving With Hearts and Souls
AATATโs commitment to community dates back to its inception.
Black students comprised less than 2% of UCSCโs population in the early 1990s. From his own experience in higher education, Williams knew that there was a need for representation, retention and solidarity among Black college students. As undergraduates at Michigan State University, Williams and other Black students didnโt see themselves, their communities or their histories represented in the schoolโs theater department.
In Scott Leisersonโs AATAT Documentary, Williams said it was like deja vu coming to Santa Cruz. In Michigan, his solution was to create the all-Black Last-Minute Hook Up Theater. Why not try again?
โAATAT is there to infuse, erupt or bring back to memory, you know, to what Black folks have done. And how we have given with our hearts and souls to this land called America, and how we truly are a part of America,โ Williams tells me. โThat’s the purpose of doing Black theatre. Thatโs the purpose of having an African American Theatre troupe on a campus.โ
For years, the troupe persevered on next to no budget. Students couldnโt receive class credit for participating, and the program lacked a permanent space. But students just wanted to act, so they persisted.
It doesnโt matter if a play is performed on a university stage, at a community center, or in a church basement, Williams saysโitโs always possible to get creative with costumes, sets and lighting. What matters is that an audience can come and be moved by storytelling.
But citing budget concerns, UCSC handed Williams a pink slip in 2004. Students staged protests advocating for the administration to rehire Williams and save his theater programs. In response to this passionate defense, UCSC established the Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center to house AATAT and its multicultural parallel Rainbow Theatre.
โI see theater as a way for us to reexamine certain issues and certain stories that we might not know about,โ says AATAT alumna Jazmine Logan. โWe can learn history from a history textbook, but whatโs missing in those history textbooks is a more sympathetic approach to really understanding the emotional context.โ
Theater is immediate, says Calame-Harris. There are no distractions, the audience canโt change the channel or look at their phones. Attending live theater is a commitment to sharing space with those characters. All this, she says, is a way to break down barriers and develop mutual understanding.
AATAT founder Don Williams and his students created the African American Scholarship Fund in 1993, which gives out four scholarships recognizing diverse skills and accomplishments annually. COURTESY PHOTO
All Our Belongings
Even 30 years later, AATAT remains the only theater group in the UC system dedicated to Black theater. The significance of this fact may be underlined by a 2011 study from the director of Institutional Research and Policy Studies at UCSC, which found that a sense of belonging is an important contributor to student retention.
โWithout these programs, I donโt know if the retention and graduation rates would be as high,โ says Calame-Harris. โSo itโs not only spreading cultural awareness for the campus, but itโs also maintaining their diverse population.โ
Jazmine Logan, who graduated from UCSC in 2019, says the familial culture of AATAT makes students feel less alone on campus.. AATAT provides a welcoming, family-oriented space for Black students to share experiences and use their passion for theater to advocate for social justice, she says.
Logan was inspired to join AATAT after attending Williamsโ African American Theatre History class. She says it was the first time she had been in a classroom with an African American professor.
โIt wasnโt until I joined AATAT that I really understood the appreciation and the importance of engaging with African American theater,โ Logan says. โSo AATAT was where my love for African American theater, and my appreciation for it, and my continued mission to still fight for Black theater, took root.โ
The high cost of attending university is another roadblock to retention, so Williams and his students created the African American Scholarship Fund. The fund distributes four different scholarships to recognize diverse skills and accomplishments. Since 1993, the troupe has raised over $100,000 in annual funding for its members.
At AATATโs 30th anniversary gala, interim Dean of the Arts Ted Warburton referenced UCSCโs first principle of community. He said the university embraces diversity in all its forms and strives for an inclusive community.
โAs a campus, we have not always risen to meet that aspirational goal,โ Warburton said. โBut we know one person and one student organization who have embodied that principle for 30 years: Don Williams and his AATAT family.โ
AATAT wants everyone to be able to access Black theater, not just audiences on campus. The groupโs outreach program has been going almost as long as the troupe itself.
โWeโll go into three different high schools. And weโll do outreach where weโre telling personal testimonies, doing theater games, passing out swag, [saying] โWe want you to think about higher education. Thereโs a place for you here,โโ Williams says.
Career Builders
Recruitment doesnโt end once students get to collegeโAATATโs alumni network far and wide. Often, students are able to break into professional spaces by networking through the AATAT family.
While forging their own paths in the arts, Calame-Harris and Logan serve on the AATAT Alumni Advisory Board. Both credit Williams and the community he built for inspiring their continued dedication to theater.
Logan is now in her final year at San Francisco State University completing a Master of Arts in Theater. She reflects AATATโs mission to increase African American representation through her thesis, which analyzes African theater curricula in the UC and CSU systems. She is particularly interested in Yoruba theater. AATAT also connected Logan to the Black Theater Network conference, where she was named a S. Randolph Edmonds Young Scholar in July 2020.
Even for Logan, who eats, sleeps and breathes theater, AATATโs 2021 program is a chance to see something new.
โThatโs whatโs so great about AATAT,โ she says. โYou get to learn more about African American theater plays that you donโt get introduced to in your theater history classes.โ
Like most students, Calame-Harris got her start with AATAT after a chance encounter with an enthusiastic Williams. Most alumni have the same story, she says.
โHe jumped out of one of his trucks and said, โHey you! Are you interested in theater?โโ Calame-Harris recalls. โHeโs been in my life ever since.โ
But unlike the majority of AATAT members, Calame-Harris had a long history of performing before arriving at university. She even had her Screen Actors Guild card before entering high school. As a child actor, she voiced Young Nala in the original Lion King film, appeared in commercials and played Chris Rockโs younger sister in his 1992 film CB4.
She credits the alumni network with helping her break into the industry after college. After graduating, Calame-Harris says she hit up Adilah Barnes, founder of the Los Angeles Womenโs Theatre Festival, to ask if she needed an intern.Thus began Calame-Harrisโs summer job at the festival.
Now Calame-Harris runs In Motion, a program she designed to mentor up-and-coming actors. She continues to book roles in TV and film, and recently hosted a panel on Women in Entertainment for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
She says Williamsโ values inspire her own teaching method. Involving students in their education gives them agency and teaches them the power of collaboration, while combining everyoneโs unique skills and perspectives creates a better result, she says.
Every aspect of his productions reflects a unified vision. In group auditions, itโs clear that jealous competition has no place in AATAT. Celebrating everyone is a lesson in kindness and collectivity. Every hopeful cast member can situate themselves within the playโs context and feel like part of the team.
โPart of my mission and drive is about creating a harmonious community,โ says Williams. โOur goal is to do a play. But thereโs a greater goal. And that is to create community, to create an atmosphere where one can actually come in and be safe.โ
Itโs unlikely one could spend ten minutes at an AATAT event without hearing reference to Williamsโ famous mantra โUplift others higher than yourself.โ Logan says itโs become her mantra as wellโshe always thinks of how she can use her talents to help others. Calame-Harris uses the phrase in her email signature.
People who get a chance to be in AATAT and Rainbow come into the real world with a different mind set, Calame-Harris says. And with 30 years of graduates spreading Williamsโ gospel, change is inevitable.
โI believe that youโve never arrived to the point where you canโt learn something from someone. And when you do have extra knowledge, then reach back and bring other people up with you,โ Calame-Harris says. โ[Williams] teaches in that kind of way. That is infectious, and spreads to the people who work with him. And I think thatโs a great quality to have in any industry.โ
Much of the discussion about George Washingtonโs place in history halted after the July 31 rally.
The public forum during the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting lasted more than three and a half hours, and it turned into a Infowars-esque word soup. Supporters of the statue called those in favor of removing it anarchists, antifa supporters, Marxists and socialists. Those looking to remove it rebutted by calling those on the other side racists, white supremacists and slavery apologists. Then-commission chair Abel Sanchez concluded that meeting by saying people on both sides needed to come together and hash out their differences.
โWe need to have dialogue,โ he said. โWe need to have those conversations. We really need to sit together and hear each other, because I donโt want to live in a world where weโre on opposite sides and itโs us versus them.โ
That meeting of the minds did not happen in months leading up to the Feb. 9 decision, and because of that, Mayor Jimmy Dutra tells GT, both sides have dug themselves deeper in their causes. In his eyes, the divide between the two sides has landed squarely between a young, progressive and predominantly Latinx group and a group he refers to as the โold guardโ of Watsonville, or the Croatian, Italian, Portuguese and Latinx families that have been in the city for generations. Dutra says those conversations need to happen sooner rather than later, as tensions have continued to rise between the two groups, and he is concerned that the next issue might make the situation worse. But just how those conversations are supposed to happen, he says, is the million dollar question.
โThe issue is what do we do to bring people together? How do we bring people back? We have more common ground than we donโt, and we need to find a way to work together, because, right now, weโre seeing people just sticking their feet into the ground unwilling to compromise,โ he says.
Frances Salgado-Chavez tells GT that the Revolunasโthe liberal collective of mostly Latinx women based in Watsonville who led the charge against the statueโdid not try to have a conversation with people from the other side after the July 31 rally. Instead, they held online forums that were only open to people of color and people of the LGBTQ+ community to provide a safe space for them to express their feelings about the subject. Salgado-Chavez says they were open to discussing the positives and negatives of Washingtonโs legacy, but that the other side was not.
โThey werenโt listening to us,โ she says.
Manny Solano did not return a call asking for comment, but did reply to GT in an email that also included the City Council, City Manager Matt Huffaker and Parks and Community Services Director Nick Calubaquib. In the email, he said the City Councilโs decision to move the bust to the Watsonville Public Library went against the results of a city sponsored survey in which about 60% of 1,200 respondents said they wanted the bust to stay in the Plaza.
โItโs ironic that this whole process was supposedly based on fairness and equality, yet the parks commission and city council ignored the voice of the people for their preference,โ he wrote. โIt was a flawed and undemocratic process and exposed the character and future of our city leadership. The community will be watching to make sure the donated statue is placed prominently in front of the city library and not hidden in some back room or closet. Doing so would result in further protest and division in the community.โ
Watsonville City Councilman Francisco โPacoโ Estrada tells GT that in the days after the decision he received several similar emails about the move from people on both sides. He says that the decision should have been a win-win compromise for the community. One side wanted it gone. The other wanted it to stay. A move to another public space where some of its political edge would be dulled and the educational aspect would be heightened seemed like a victory.
โUltimately, it sort of felt like it was a lose-lose,โ he says.
Like Dutra, Estrada says the statue was merely a symptom of the much larger issue. That bust might be settled, but by no means is the conversation about race over, he says. Although it was productive to get the issue on the table, Estrada argues that the setting did not allow for much progress. The conversations at the virtual meetings and the public comments submitted to the City Council continuously turned โugly,โ mirroring the nationwide division around the issue of race.
Because of its inherently difficult-to-come-to-grips-with nature, the topic of race will undoubtedly lead to tough conversations, Estrada says, but the line between conversation and confrontation has blurred since the two groups began debating the bust. The people in the middle, says Estrada, often emailed him and said they wanted no part of the discussion because they were afraid of being deemed racist or ignorant and told that they didnโt understand the complexity of the issue. City parks staff, he says, were caught in the crossfire, too, and often were accused of racism or radicalism while presenting the issue in public meetings.
โAt the end of the day more people might be more turned off from local politics after all of this, and thatโs definitely not what we were hoping for,โ he says. โSome things were finally said out in public and out loud, which I do appreciate, but residents are asking me, โWhat do we do now? Whatโs next?โ I think those are valid questions. I just donโt want the next thing to come up to get uglier. I would like us to build a better way to discuss all this and find some respect for each other. I just didnโt see it in this whole process of the bust.โ
Whatโs next?
Just down the road from Watsonville, the Cabrillo College Governing Board has taken the first steps in possibly renaming the school by forming the Name Exploration Subcommittee. That process began around the same time the debate about the bust started last year and is expected to run until at least this fall, when the committee will have a recommendation for the board.
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Spanish conquistador whose rise to power came at the expense of conquering, enslaving and trafficking the Indigenous people of Central America and Mexico, according to the Cabrillo College website. In the mid-20th century, Portuguese civic clubs in California promoted Cabrillo as a historic figure who had โdiscoveredโ the state.
Watsonville resident Steve Trujillo tabbed the renaming as one of his top issues during his run for the Area VII seat on the governing board last fall, and defeated longtime board member Ed Banks. He says the renaming of Cabrillo, the removal of the Washington statue and various other similar actions across the country are part of a โgreat renaissance of understanding.โ
As a retired teacher who helped co-write the Mexican-American history curriculum taught at Alisal High School in Salinas, Trujillo, 68, says it is unsurprising that many people that were for removing the bust were younger than those that were for keeping it. Todayโs generation, he says, is not limited by grade school text books that โwhitewashโ U.S. history thanks to the internet.
โWeโve glossed over all of our presidentsโ histories, and we did it because itโs comforting,โ he says. โWe did it because we want to believe that weโre special. Itโs hard to believe the history about Washington, but the truth is he did some very good things and he did some extremely awful things as well.โ
Salgado-Chavez says the Revolunas have not yet decided what they will focus on next. They have, however, been sporadically vocal in public meetings around Watsonville. At a recent Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting, a few members spoke during a discussion about the proposed World History Ethinic Studies course. The course is advertised as a non-traditional look at modern world history (1700-present) by focusing on systems of power, how they were created, and how they impact the world, studentsโ local communities and individual identities. A team of 14 PVUSD teachers, along with UCSC and Santa Cruz County Office of Education representatives created the course, which will be available to students at Watsonville, Pajaro Valley and Aptos high schools in the fall.
โIt gives [students] the opportunity to look at different case studies throughout the world and look at the different structures of power: what actually happened and what narrative came out,โ PVUSD Assistant Superintendent Lisa Aguerria Lewis said during a board of trustees meeting on Feb. 10.
Aguerria Lewis at that meeting said the course is a direct result of the late Abel Mejia, a beloved longtime Watsonville High history teacher who died suddenly last year. Estrada in his remarks at the Feb. 9 City Council meeting said he was also working with Mejia on a history project that would focus on Watsonvilleโs rich past โthat would give the opportunity to our local residents to not only understand their local history but by extension the history of this nation.โ
โEven though Mr. Mejia is not with us, Iโm still hoping to create this cross-generational and cross-cultural bridge in this community,โ he said. โIโm very fortunate that Iโve had the opportunity to serve as mayor, because one of the great gifts Iโve received is โฆ Iโve gotten a better understanding that the Croatian experience, the Chinese experience, the Japanese experience, the Filipino experience, the Chicano experience, Latinx, African-American, Muslim-American, theyโre not all that different โฆ. Itโs only our perceptions of each other and our misunderstandings of history that really divide us.โ
Longtime local resident John Tuck died in a senior rest home in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, Feb. 18โfrom a combination of Covid-19, pneumonia and dementia.
Tuck was one of those who seemed much larger than life, and he left behind hundreds of friends and a lot of wild stories here in Santa Cruz, where he lived for more than 50 years. He was dedicated to his profession of making sure children were in safe homes for the county, but along with friend Billie Harris, also serious about acting. They played together in Arms and The Man at UCSCโs Barn Theatre, acted in Separate Tables at the Pasatiempo Inn, and in The Boyfriend at Cowell College. He was also the lead in Albeeโs Whoโs Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Staircase Theatreโwhere I saw all 14 performances and rehearsals.
Tuck was devoted to his community. He wrote a weekly column for the Buy and Sell Press in Soquel in 1970, convincing me that I could, too. After pushing from Manny Santana, he and I joined the board of the Cabrillo Music Festival, and Tuck became a directorโand I the treasurerโof the Santa Cruz County Fair. Tuck and I emceed the Christmas dinners and worked with the Grey Bears for 25 years or more: We also bought the very first beers at the โNewโ Catalyst, Chris Mathewsโ Poet and Patriot, Clouds, and Lulu Carpenters.
Amid all this, Tuck found the time to be fiercely political. He was a prime mover in saving Wilder Ranch, acting as an ombudsman to raise the necessary funds to hire a professional organizer. He got me into that battle, too, as a result of which I got sued for $121,000,000 for libel! Attorney Jack Jacobson further reminds me that Tuck was also a member and supporter of Community Bridges.
Tuck went to Africa with the Peace Corps and loved it, then served the Corps again in China. While there he fell in love with his second wife Ming, bringing her back here to Santa Cruz. Probably the fondest memories any of us have of him are the backyard parties that he, Paul Dragavon and I held. We called them the โยผ of Julyโ Gatherings, and welcomed dignitaries like Leon Panetta, Henry Mello and Sam Farr along with local politicos like Bert Muhly, Gary Patton and others. In these and so many other ways, Tuck gave a huge amount to Santa Cruz.
His friends are legion, and deeply saddened by his loss. His family, Kyle, Jaala, Buddha, probably Ballan, and his former wife Sherry, miss him very much. And I do, too.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In late April 1969, Cambridgeshire, U.K., hosted the first-ever Thriplow Daffodil Weekend: a flower show highlighting 80 varieties of narcissus. In the intervening years, climate change has raised the average temperature 3.24 degrees Fahrenheit. So the flowers have been blooming progressively earlier each year, which has necessitated moving the festival back. The last pre-Covid show in 2019 was on March 23โ24, a month earlier than the original. Letโs use this as a metaphor for shifting conditions in your world. I invite you to take an inventory of how your environment has been changing, and what you could do to ensure youโre adapting to new conditions.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Author Leo Buscaglia told us that among ancient Egyptians, two specific questions were key in evaluating whether a human life was well-lived. They were โDid you bring joy?โ and โDid you find joy?โ In accordance with your current astrological potentials, Iโm inviting you to meditate on those queries. And if you discover thereโs anything lacking in the joy you bring and the joy you find, now is a very favorable time to make corrections.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): At age 11, the future first President of the United States George Washington became the โownerโ of 10 slaves. A few years later he โboughtโ 15 more. By the time he was president, 123 men, women and children were struggling in miserable bondage under his control. Finally, in his will, he authorized them to be freed after he and his wife died. Magnanimous? Hell, no. He should have freed those people decades earlierโor better yet, never โownedโ them in the first place. Another Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, not only freed his slaves but became an abolitionist. By my count, at least 11 of the other Founding Fathers never owned slaves. Now hereโs the lesson Iโd like us to apply to your life right now: Donโt procrastinate in doing the right thing. Do it now.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): During World War II, the Japanese island of ลkunoshima housed a factory that manufactured poison gas for use in chemical warfare against China. These days it is a tourist attraction famous for its thousands of feral, but friendly, bunnies. Iโd love to see you initiate a comparable transmutation in the coming months, dear Cancerian: changing bad news into good news, twisted darkness into interesting light, soullessness into soulfulness. Now is a good time to ramp up your efforts.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): โScars speak for you,โ writes author Gena Showalter. โThey say youโre strong, and youโve survived something that might have killed others.โ In that spirit, dear Leo, and in accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to authorize your scars to express interesting truths about you in the coming weeks. Allow them to demonstrate how resilient youโve been, and how well youโve mastered the lessons that your past suffering has made available. Give your scars permission to be wildly eloquent about the transformations youโve been so courageous in achieving.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): According to novelist Doris Lessing, โEverybody in the world is thinking: I wish there was just one other person I could really talk to, who could really understand me, whoโd be kind to me.โ She implied that hardly anyone ever gets such an experienceโor that itโs so rare as to be always tugging on our minds, forever a source of unquenched longing. But Iโm more optimistic than Lessing. In my view, the treasured exchange she describes is not so impossible. And I think it will especially be possible for you in the coming weeks. I suspect youโre entering a grace period of being listened to, understood and treated kindly. Hereโs the catch: For best results, you should be forthright in seeking it out.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): โHow much has to be explored and discarded before reaching the naked flesh of feeling,โ wrote composer Claude Debussy. In the coming weeks, I hope youโll regard his words as an incitement to do everything you can to reach the naked flesh of your feelings. Your ideas are fine. Your rational mind is a blessing. But for the foreseeable future, what you need most is to deepen your relationship with your emotions. Study them, please. Encourage them to express themselves. Respect their messages as gifts, even if you donโt necessarily act upon them.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You may never wander out alone into a dark forest or camp all night on a remote beach or encounter a mountain lion as you climb to a glacier near the peak of a rugged mountain. But there will always be a primeval wilderness within youโuncivilized lands and untamed creatures and elemental forces that are beyond your rational understanding. Thatโs mostly a good thing! To be healthy and wise, you need to be in regular contact with raw nature, even if itโs just the kind thatโs inside you. The only time it may be a hindrance is if you try to deny its existence, whereupon it may turn unruly and inimical. So donโt deny it! Especially now. (P.S.: To help carry out this assignment, try to remember the dreams you have at night. Keep a recorder or notebook and pen near your bed.)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): โWhat damages a person most,โ wrote philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, โis to work, think, and feel without inner necessity, without any deep personal desire, without pleasureโas a mere automaton of duty.โ Once a year, I think every one of us, including me, should meditate on that quote. Once a year, we should evaluate whether we are living according to our soulโs code; whether weโre following the path with heart; whether weโre doing what we came to earth to accomplish. In my astrological opinion, the next two weeks will be your special time to engage in this exploration.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What are your edges, Capricorn? What aspects of your identity straddle two different categories? Which of your beliefs embrace seemingly opposed positions? In your relations with other people, what are the taboo subjects? Where are the boundaries that you can sometimes cross and other times canโt cross? I hope youโll meditate on these questions in the coming weeks. In my astrological opinion, youโre primed to explore edges, deepen your relationship with your edges and use your edges for healing and education and cultivating intimacy with your allies. As author Ali Smith says, โEdges are magic; thereโs a kind of forbidden magic on the borders of things, always a ceremony of crossing over, even if we ignore it or are unaware of it.โ
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): According to intermedia artist Sidney Pink, โThe idea of divine inspiration and an aha moment is largely a fantasy.โ What the hell is he talking about?! Thatโs fake news, in my view. In the course of my creative career, Iโve been blessed with thousands of divine inspirations and aha moments. But I do acknowledge that my breakthroughs have been made possible by โhard work and unwavering dedication,โ which Sidney Pink extols. Now hereโs the climax of your oracle: You Aquarians are in a phase when you should be doing the hard work and unwavering dedication that will pave the way for divine inspirations and aha moments later this year.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): For you Pisceans, March is Love Yourself Bigger and Better and Bolder Month. To prepare you for this festival, Iโm providing two inspirational quotes. 1. โIf you arenโt good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone, since youโll resent the time and energy you give another person that you arenโt even giving to yourself.โ โBarbara De Angelis 2. โLoving yourself does not mean being self-absorbed or narcissistic, or disregarding others. Rather it means welcoming yourself as the most honored guest in your own heart, a guest worthy of respect, a lovable companion.โ โMargo Anand
There are so many fabulous wines for you to try when you head to Martin Ranch for a tastingโand one of them is the Thรฉrese Vineyards Privata Reserva 2017. A delicious blend of three red winesโSangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the Privata Reserva is a little masterpiece of flavor.
Owner and winemaker Dan Martin and his wife Thรฉrรจse run the winery in the verdant hills of Gilroy. They started by growing grapes to sellโbefore realizing the joy that winemaking and running a business gives them. Now, in addition to the original Cabernet Sauvignon vines they planted back in 1993, their vineyard has rows of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Nebbiolo, and Pinot Noir. And with three award-winning labels under their beltโJ.D.Hurley, Soulmate and Thรฉrese Vineyardsโthereโs never a dull moment at the winery.
Their Privata Reserva blend is produced from barrels hand selected by Thรฉrรจse Martinโone of a handful of female winemakers in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA.
โThe union of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon pays homage to the great blends of Tuscany,โ say the Martins. And the wineโs extra time in the barrels provides more depth and smoothness, along with an abundance of fruit and spice on the palate. Check with Martin Ranch for cost.
A vital team member is David Dockendorf, who has been with Martin Ranch since 2008 and oversees winemaking and production โfrom harvest to bottle.โ
Keep your eyes glued on Martin Ranchโs website for info on their upcoming events. Their last virtual tasting sold out.
Martin Ranch Winery, 6675 Redwood Retreat Road, Gilroy. 408-842-9197, martinranchwinery.com.
Kathryn Kennedy Winery
Kathryn Kennedy Winery is run by accomplished winemaker Marty Mathis (the late Kathryn Kennedyโs son). He posted a heartfelt note on his email list recently.
Hereโs what he said: โIโm sincerely grateful for the strong support from customers like you. It has allowed paychecks to go (uninterrupted) to five families. With your help our small winery will have a fighting chance to bridge through this unprecedented crisis.โย
Avenue Cafรฉ is a quaint breakfast and lunch spot with living room vibes in Capitola Village that serves classic American food favorites with a Latinx twist.
Under new ownership since August, they are currently open Thursday-Monday from 7:30am-2pm for takeout and outdoor dining. The patio is cozy yet roomy, and the indoor space is defined and characterized by an old school stone fireplace. General manager Olaff Balcazar says that the restaurant prides itself on warm and welcoming hospitality with a friendly neighborhood feel, and that the restaurantโs small size allows for every guest to be truly taken care of. GT spoke with him recently about the restaurantโs unique yet relatable menu.
What is the rock star breakfast item?
OLAFF BALCAZAR: The one that people really seem to like the most is the eggs benedict. Thatโs what weโre known for and we have several different kindsโthe most popular is the bacon/avocado. The hollandaise sauce is traditional and housemade, and with everything you can really just taste the chefโs love in the food. Customers often say, โCompliments to the chef.โ Our breakfast sides are hash browns, home fries or fruit, or a combination. We are always happy to split plates and make special accommodations. We are here for the guests, and hopefully they come back.
Tell me about your breakfast burritos and quesadillas.
We love to do Hispanic flavors and food, and we offer delicious breakfast burritos and breakfast quesadillas. What I like about both is that guests can pick what goes in them, and they come with sides. They start with a base of eggs and cheese and are totally customizable after that. We also do a great guacamole and a great pico de gallo, and we have a really good variety of other Hispanic options, too, such as chilaquiles and huevos rancheros.
What highlights the lunch menu?
Our B.L.T.A. (bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado) sandwich is very popular, and we also do a great burger that is totally customizable. We have multiple delicious options for sides such as fries, onion rings, salad, soup and fruit. We also have a good steak salad. It has sirloin or skirt steak, and mixed greens, onions, tomatoes and choice of dressing. Also, the shrimp salad is great, it comes out looking like a shrimp ceviche tostada.
Looks like the thaw has begun. Outdoor seating continues expanding and invites us more and more.
We check in with winemakers on how tasting rooms (now on sidewalks, parklets and patios) are handling the ups and downs of the pandemicโs open/shut scenarios.
Ser WineryWinemakerNicole Walsh: โHaving an outdoor space has been critical for my business. I am also so happy it allows us to have a safe space for the community to get out and enjoy some time with friends and partners.โ
Ser Winery Tasting Room Manager Alex Baker: โWhen the weather is poor, itโs more difficult to attract people. But, in general, outdoor service has been incredible! When the weather is good, weโre usually consistently busy. Having the extra parking space has been crucial to being able to have tables for guests. Definitely want to be able to keep some kind of outdoor space open. Looking forward to having it be lighter later as it attracts more people.โ
Birichino Winemaker Alex Krause: โWe are grateful that weโve been able to reopen outside on our sidewalk patio for tastings, as itโs made it possible for us to bring back our amazing staff, and itโs helped make up for the loss of what used to account for about 40% of our business globallyโselling our wines to restaurants. Even for our small business, it was tremendously challenging to pivot on a dime to a new business model every few months. We consider ourselves lucky, as well, that weโd had a couple of years of being open to build local support and get the word out about our wine club, which has absolutely made the difference for our survival this past year. Outside seating is something weโd like to continue in the post-pandemic universe.โ
Windy Oaksโ Judy Schultze: โOur Corralitos winery and vineyard are open for tasting outdoors every weekend. The Carmel-by-the-Sea tasting room is also open except Tuesday and Wednesday. We are swamped pretty much every weekend, obviously pent-up demand, and our wine club has been incredibly loyal, so weโve survived! Reservations highly recommended at both locations due to limited seating.โ
Storrs Wineryโs Pamela Storrs: โThings are going relatively well. The new format is really working for us. Weโre using Erlenmeyer flasks placed inside of stainless pails filled with shave ice to serve our wine flights. Each guest receives a wine glass and tasting notes, and they taste at their own pace with our wine educators checking in on them periodically. We also offer longer term picnic and bocce ball reservations for those who prefer to bring a picnic or spend a little more time. Sash Mill Storrs is still only open for purchases and online pickups on weekends, but itโs holding its own, too. Now that weโre feeling a little more confident about being able to be open, we may consider reopening for outdoor, seated reservations wine tastings at the Sash Mill this summer.โ
Equinoxโs Jennifer Jackson: โWith the recent change in restrictions, the more brisk our business has become, especially Friday through Sunday. People are so very ready to be outdoors in the spring-like weather we have been enjoying. One thing we hear repeatedly is a gratefulness for being able to relax outside with a glass of wine and especially for being served rather than having to be at home alone. People are hungry for social stimulation. We are following Covid rules. All the wineries in our area have rearranged exteriors and stay abreast of the ever-changing rules for engagement. As Covid numbers begin to drop, we look forward with a sense of hope for the freedom we all miss with a โrealโ normal way of living and interacting with each other.โ
More Tastes
Equinox is also one of several Surf City Vintners offering small plate catering to their al fresco tasters on Saturdays thanks to Colectivo Felixโhome of inventive empanadas, breads, and sliders. Items can be ordered and paid for online, and Felix staff will bring items to the tasters to enjoy along with their wine. Details at colectivofelix.square.site.
Big Basin Changes
Congratulations to Blake Yarger, longtime assistant winemaker with Bradley Brown up at Big Basin Vineyards. Yarger has taken over official winemaker chores, while Big Basin founder Brown turns more attention to sales and recovery efforts after his huge losses during the CZU Lightning Complex fire.
Increasingly exasperated that most public schools remain closed even as coronavirus cases plummet nearly a year into the pandemic, California parents are taking to the streets.
The campaign to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has seized on the frustrations. Republicans hoping to replace him are staging campaign events outside shuttered schools and highlighting that California lags the rest of the nation when it comes to getting kids back in the classroom. Newsomโs political future may hinge, in part, on how much longer millions of children remain stuck on Zoom.
But the stateโs education system is incredibly fragmented, with more than 1,000 school districts tasked with deciding โ mostly through negotiations with their local labor unions โ when and how to reopen. Those districts must follow laws crafted by a Legislature with close ties to organized labor, and signed by a governor who was elected with the support of the teachersโ union but now finds himself at odds with it over his objections to making vaccine access a requirement for reopening.
Districts in San Diego, Long Beach and Berkeley recently struck deals to reopen this spring. But despite pediatricians and infectious disease experts saying itโs safe to open schools as long as precautions are in place, many large districts say they wonโt be able to without new direction from the state Capitol. Newsom and legislative leaders have so far been unable to agree on a plan that could prod more schools to bring students back to campus.
โThe fundamental breakdown here is a big struggle between management and labor on what ought to exist at the state level regarding the rules around reopening,โ said Kevin Gordon, a lobbyist who represents numerous school districts. โThatโs 100% of the problem.โ
Two-thirds of California adults supported Newsomโs proposal to spend $2 billion to reopen elementary schools by mid-February, according to a January survey by the Public Policy Institute of California. With that date come and gone, and the plan stalled, parents this week asked Newsom to open schools โthrough whatever means necessary.โ
But teacher union leaders remain fearful that it may not be safe. Some schools that have reopened have seen isolatedoutbreaks, and a new coronavirus variant could make people sicker and vaccines less effective. A state website that was supposed to show the public which schools have had COVID cases among students or employees has yet to publish any data.
And teacher unions have enormous sway in California politics. In the last four years, the California Teachers Association has given $10.7 million to the California Democratic Party. It alsospent $5.6 million on legislative races and $1.1 million supporting Newsom. And it donated $5 million to an assortment of local school board races, Democratic central committees and local union accounts.
Amid this confusing tangle of power, itโs hard to figure out whoโs responsible for whether California kids will get back in the classroom. Hereโs what we know:
What can the governor do?
Newsom could compel reopenings by using his emergency power during the pandemic to temporarily suspend the law that requires districts to negotiate with local labor unions, argues Carl Cohn, a former superintendent of schools in San Diego and Long Beach. Instead of the uneven process of a thousand separate labor negotiations in each district, he said, the governor should make one deal with the statewide teachersโ union.
โAs we all face that extraordinary anniversary March 13, where kids will have been out of school for a full year, I just think you have to think out of the box,โ Cohn said in an interview. โYouโve got to figure out a way to solve this.โ
Newsom did not answer reportersโ questions this week when asked if he would consider suspending local bargaining or negotiate a statewide deal. He said heโs hashing out a new reopening plan with legislative leaders and is not ready to publicize the details.
He did use his executive authority to set aside 10% of the stateโs vaccines for teachers and other school employees โ an attempt to address the unionโs argument that workers shouldnโt go back to campus unless theyโve been offered the shots. Newsom says heโs prioritizing school workers for vaccines with a focus on disadvantaged communities and has arranged dedicated inoculation drives for educators in Oakland and Los Angeles.
His administration has issued guidance on safety precautions schools must take, and gave districts three months worth of face masks. And heโs been using his bully pulpit to make the case that schools should reopen, holding press conferences to highlight communities that are vaccinating teachers and making plans to bring students back to campus.
But Newsom said โone size does not fit all,โ and heโs so far resisted doing anything to usurp local control from school districts and their employee unions.
His Republican challengers Kevin Faulconer and John Cox said they would not suspend local bargaining.
What about financial incentives?
The school reopening plan the governor unveiled in December โ which floundered amid criticism โ called for giving districts extra money if they return to in-person instruction, but didnโt compel them to do so. School leaders said that would wind up rewarding districts that were better positioned to reopen, while punishing those that couldnโt.
In that approach, Newsom has strange company: Faulconer, the GOP former mayor of San Diego, also suggested using financial incentives to reopen schools. During a campaign stop in Sacramento this week, Faulconer said if he were governor, he would tie state funding to in-person attendance. Asked how that differed from what Newsom tried unsuccessfully, Faulconer could not provide details.
What can the Legislature do?
Lawmakers tried to compel districts to get students back on campus with a bill saying they must have a reopening plan within two weeks of exiting the stateโs purple tier for the most severe rates of infection. The proposal was inspired by legislatorsโ frustration that most schools did not bring students back during the fall, even though they were allowed to because COVID cases were low.
โLocal control has been a complete failure,โ said Assemblymember Phil Ting, a San Francisco Democrat who wrote the bill.
But Ting canceled a hearing on the legislation and instead helped write a new reopening plan that essentially gives local districts and their unions more control. It requires districts to negotiate reopening with their labor unions, and gives them a financial incentive โ but not a mandate โ to bring students back to campus by April 15. Newsom said the plan would slow down reopening in too many districts, and indicated he would not sign it into law.
The bill was panned both by school districts that said it was too meddlesome and by parents who said it was too weak.
โIf there are no mandates, then essentially what youโre still bound by is the collective bargaining process in each district,โ said Megan Bacigalupi of Oakland, who created a parent advocacy group called Open Schools California. โIf there was a requirement that at certain case rates youโd have to reopen, then you would see much more progress across the state, especially in the big urban districts where itโs been the slowest.โ
Teachersโ unions want local school districts and unions โ not the state โ to decide when and how schools should open. But they also want the state to issue more safety requirements, including vaccines for school employees, improved ventilation, procedures for disinfecting campuses and routine COVID testing.
โWe need something thatโs going to be uniform so that we know that if a school up in Ukiah is open and a school down in San Diego is open, they are open because itโs safe,โ said Toby Boyd, president of the California Teachers Association.
Kevin Gordon, the school district lobbyist, said the Legislature should focus on sending money to districts, and then โget out of the way.โ
โThe idea of inviting the state into the details of the local bargaining process is whatโs gotten a lot of this so complicated,โ Gordon said.
What can school districts do?
Many districts have been able to open under existing rules that require more spacing between desks and other safety precautions. About half of Californiaโs school districts offer in-person learning, though most of them are only bringing some students on campus, or are in a hybrid mode where students spend part of the time in class and part online.
But the vast majority of California students remain entirely online because the districts that have reopened so far are mostly quite small. About three-quarters of the stateโs elementary students and 86% of high schoolers are in districts that do not provide any in-person learning. A CalMatters analysis found vast inequities โ overall, students in wealthier regions are going to school, while those in cities with more poverty are home on Zoom.
โAlmost everything is driven locally,โ said Tony De Marco, an attorney who works with school districts in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. โIt starts really with the community and how much the community is pushing their local board members and their local districts to reopen โ and to what degree.โ
Though labor negotiations are the norm in school districts, many smaller ones have reopened without formal agreements with their unions, said Edgar Zazueta, a lobbyist for the Association of California School Administrators.
โIn many districts, they just had a relationship with their employees that didnโt require them opening up new bargaining agreements. They still worked together and sought input,โ he said. โMany just operated under existing (agreements) that didnโt deal with specific COVID mitigation issues.โ
So do teachers unions have the final say?
Sort of.
Some communities made plans to come back to school without formal labor negotiations, and some schools were prevented from reopening because of public health orders from the state or county. So unions are not the only deciding factor.
But they play a big role in urban districts such as Los Angeles, Oakland and Sacramento, where tensions between labor and district management predate the pandemic. A statewide reopening plan thatโs blessed by the California Teachers Association would smooth reopening in such districts, said Bruce Fuller, a UC Berkeley education professor.
Statewide โlabor leaders need to feel like a safe and fair deal has been struck with the Legislature and the governor, because they need to signal that back to the remaining locals that are dragging their feet,โ he said.
โIf there is uncertainty or a lack of trust at the state level, we will be back to every union local being able to veto an agreement.โ
Senate leader Toni Atkins said itโs hard to imagine the state crafting a plan that would force reopening if employees donโt agree: โThe goal is really to have willing partners, because you canโt go back to school without teachers.โ
But some Democrats are hoping the stateโs Democratic leaders will not give unions the last word on reopening schools. Mike Trujillo, a Democratic consultant who works with charter schools and politicians who support them, said the state should compel districts to open their classrooms without requiring agreements from local unions.
โThe communities who are most impacted by this are the communities that donโt have a bullhorn to shout out that they want their schools opened,โ he said. โThis is the time to do whatโs right for Latino and African American families up and down the state.โ
CalMatters.org is anonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
The mass vaccination site in downtown Watsonville for most of March will solely administer second doses of the Covid-19 vaccines, slowing a distribution chain that has at times moved at a sporadic pace because of limited supply.
Since opening on Feb. 6, the site at the old Watsonville City Hall has administered roughly 3,800 doses to county residents. Many of those shots have gone to people living in hard-hit Watsonville, as the County Health Services Agency prioritized residents age 65 and older living in the 95019, 95076 and 95077 zip codesโit also recently opened up the center for essential workers.
But starting Thursday, those 3,800 people will return to receive their second shot, and older adults and essential workers included in Phase 1B of the countyโs vaccination plan will have to look elsewhere for their first dose if they want to receive it within the next few weeks.
County spokesman Jason Hoppin said the site will again begin taking new appointments when it completes its registry system switch to the online state-run My Turn system, which is already in use in various counties and has been used successfully by roughly half a million Californians searching for a vaccination.
My Turn is available in eight languages, and for those without internet access appointments can be made by calling 833-422-4255. The hotline is available in English and Spanish, with third party translators available in more than 250 additional languages.
Another 1.6 million Californians have already signed up for a My Turn notification, and this week, according to the California Department of Public Health, My Turn will begin piloting the use of single-use codes, allowing community-based organizations, navigators or others to sign up members of disproportionately affected or other prioritized communities. This feature also minimizes the unauthorized sharing of codes, an issue reported in large cities across the state over the last few weeks.
Until then, Hoppin said individuals 65 and older in search of a vaccine that are not patients of the three local healthcare giantsโDignity-Dominican, Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanenteโcan still call the Santa Cruz Community Health Center to set up an appointment. In Watsonville, Rite Aid on Freedom Boulevard is also taking appointments online, although there was scarce availability on Monday. Salud Para La Gente and the countyโs clinics in Watsonville and Santa Cruz were also offering vaccinations to their patients.
It is more likely, Hoppin said, that essential workers included in Phase 1Bโeducation, childcare, food and agriculture, fire, law enforcement and emergency servicesโwill receive their vaccines in planned large-scale clinics coming later this month made possible by a partnership between the county and Sutter. Employers interested in vaccinations are asked to fill out the Covid-19 Vaccine Interest Survey at bit.ly/2NnFAUA.
The good news? County health officials at a Feb. 25 press conference said that about 70% of teachers in the county have received their first vaccine dose. In addition, about 63% of the countyโs residents aged 65 and above have received their first dose, and 17% have received both doses.
The recent approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has, too, provided another tool for the county to continue its vaccination efforts. Hoppin said the county is expected to receive an unknown number of doses from that pharmaceutical giant this weekโGov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said the state is expected to receive about 380,000 dosesโon top of 1,170 doses from Pfizer and 2,400 from Moderna.
Because of its single-shot administration, Hoppin said, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a โgame changer.โ
โJust like Pfizer and Moderna, the initial rollout of that will be slow, but that will eventually increase our supplies by 50% on an ongoing basis,โ he said.
Hoppin also said the state has told the county that there will be a โresolutionโ to vaccine shortage by mid-March.
That would align with the CPDHโs planned implementation of the statewide distribution system from Blue Shield. In a press release, CDPH said the California health plan provider starting today would begin its three-wave โonboarding system,โ starting with large counties such as Fresno, Imperial and Kings. Santa Cruz County is in the third wave, and is expected to be integrated into the system sometime after March 7.
By then, CDPH said, the state will be close to its expected vaccine distribution goal of 3 million doses per week, up from its current pace of 1.4 million doses per week. It hopes to administer 4 million doses per week by the end of April.
Under the plan, Blue Shield would make allocation recommendationsโbased on criteria set by the stateโto state officials for doses. The state will make final allocation decisions, continuing to use the existing split which prioritizes 70% of doses for those 65 and older and the other 30% in the educational and childcare, emergency services and food and agriculture sectors. This allocation is for first doses only, with second doses being sent to the provider who administered the first vaccination dose.
โThe enhanced network will build on the stateโs existing capacity and vaccination processes that are working well, while enhancing state oversight of the vaccine supply and accountability for all vaccine doses to ensure equitable access to vaccines for communities disproportionately affected by Covid-19,โ said Paul Markovich, president and CEO of Blue Shield of California, in a press release. โThe state will continue to have responsibility for allocating the vaccine to ensure Californians get the protection they need from Covid-19, and we are working diligently in support of those efforts.โ
