CLINIC UPDATE: VACCINE VERIFICATION CHANGES AT CMC
Effective Friday, April 14, 2023, we will no longer require vaccination or check the vaccination status of those entering the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic (CMC).
We want to emphasize this is not a relaxing of our standards. It is a shift in protocols based on updated scientific understanding and recently revised state/county public health regulations. This adjustment is aligned with current research and best practices followed by other Bay Area clinics and hospitals.
We now know more about the virus that causes COVID-19 and how to protect ourselves and each other than we did in March 2020. Increased immunity in the local population, and widely available treatments have rendered the disease considerably less threatening to public health. We want to remove fear for people coming into our clinic, and simultaneously reinforce that we are committed to safely serving everyone. This will also allow us to see more of the clients who need our services.
The Alameda County Health Care Services Agency has confirmed that the local public health emergency for COVID-19 in Alameda County ended on February 28th, in alignment with the end of California’s COVID-19 State of Emergency. This declaration does not mean the end of COVID-19, which remains present in our community.
CMC has always followed Universal Precautions to prevent infections. We will continue to: Screen clients, staff, and volunteers for exposure and symptoms before appointments; manage the number of people in the space at one time; and require everyone in the clinic to wear well-fitted masks and thoroughly wash hands. We will also continue to sanitize high touch surfaces, maintain adequate ventilation and uphold our strict “return to clinic” requirements if a person does become infected with COVID.
To date, these methods have kept all COVID-19 infections out of our clinic.
REMINDERS
- Stay home if ill or COVID-19 positive.
- If you have any COVID-19 symptoms when you arrive at the clinic, we may ask you to take a rapid test before you enter. This is for your protection, and the protection of others.
- If you test positive, we will reschedule your visit and provide support for you online or via phone until you are able to return.
- If you test positive for COVID outside the clinic, PLEASE CALL US as soon as possible – we would like to send you a care package!
- We will also share instructions on isolation, testing, and when you can safely return to the clinic.
- Wear a high-quality, well-fitted mask for added protection against infection.
- Improve ventilation by opening windows or running air filtration systems.
- Get tested if exposed, or sick.
- Plan how and where to access treatment and, if positive, contact a health care provider or utilize a state-supported resource right away: don’t wait until symptoms get worse.
- Gather in small groups and outdoors to reduce risk, OR, if gathering indoors, ensure you and others are COVID free; if you do not know, continue to wear masks to avoid exposure.
- If you can, please stay up to date on vaccinations, including getting the updated COVID-19 booster.
These precautions are the best ways we can continue to protect ourselves and respond appropriately to the pandemic as it unfolds.
If you have any questions or concerns, please use the form on the Contact Us page and your message will be routed to CMC Medical Director, Dr. Mary Lynn Morales.
FURTHER READING:
- Today’s ACIP meeting Cliff notes – by Katelyn Jetelina
- Viral Load Among Vaccinated and Unvaccinated, Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Persons Infected With the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant | Open Forum Infectious Diseases | Oxford Academic
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fully-vaccinated
- Breakthrough Infections: Clinical Profile and Outcomes of COVID-19 Vaccinated and Unvaccinated People From a Tertiary Care Hospital – PMC
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00648-4/fulltext
