Community Health Workers Tackle Opioid Crisis

Marin County Public Health Status Update for October 26, 2023 includes Community Health Workers Tackle Opioid Crisis; RSV Vaccine for Pregnant Women Now Available in Marin; Tracking Local COVID 19 Severe Illness Burden; Drop-In Vaccination Clinics Return to Marin; and COVID-19 Data Update.

The Marin County Public Health Status Update is published weekly to share news and resources related to pandemic response and recovery, emergency preparedness, and other public health priorities.    

Community Health Workers Tackle Opioid Crisis 

Marin County Community Response Teams (CRTs) formed for pandemic response are pivoting to other health challenges facing our community. This month, CRT partner Canal Alliance and OD Free Marin joined up to train 12 residents of the Canal area in San Rafael to support overdose prevention. Since then, Community Health Workers (CHW) have distributed over 200 Narcan kits and provided training in Spanish throughout the Canal neighborhood, including at the Wednesday food bank. 

RSV Vaccine for Pregnant Women Now Available in Marin 

Local wastewater is showing RSV activity is increasing in Marin. RSV is a respiratory virus that can cause severe illness in newborns and older residents.  Vaccinating with the recently introduced RSV vaccine during the last trimester of pregnancy is a highly effective way to prevent newborn infection, because a mother’s immunity is passed on to her baby. If you’re expecting, ask your doctor for the RSV vaccine. 

Tracking Local COVID-19 Severe Illness Burden  

Marin County Public Health is adding a new feature to the COVID-19 hospitalization dashboard. Starting this week, the number of new COVID-19 admissions per day into Marin hospitals will be shown in an interactive display. Tracking daily admissions helps describe trends in rates of severe illness in Marin. The current trend is stable and will be monitored closely for the onset of a seasonal surge.   

Drop-In Vaccination Clinics Return to Marin   

Marin County Public Health is recognizing that the reliance of commercial vaccine providers has created new disparities in access. To close gaps, Marin County Public Health has partnered with Safeway and Marin Community Clinics to establish pop-up clinics. Be on the lookout tomorrow for a press release from Marin County Public Health detailing information about this new offering available throughout the month of November.  

COVID-19 Data Update

Below is a snapshot of local COVID-19 data. Find a more in-depth analysis of COVID-19 trends on the Marin Data & Surveillance webpage, our Data FAQ, or Marin County’s Open Data Portal.