Pulse - March 2021 - 10

PULSEPOINTS

COVID VACCINE UPDATE
As the Pulse goes to press, things seem to have quieted down a little regarding
the status of the veterinary profession in the COVID vaccination hierarchy.
AVMA in a recent release notes:

Upcoming
Virtual CE
Programs
The SCVMA Virtual CE calendar
is filling up. Here is what you can
watch live for interactive continuing
education credits in coming months.
Put them on your calendar so you
don't miss them:
LUNCH AND LEARNS - One hour of
CE credits at 12:30 p.m.
March 2 - Dr. Silene St. Bernard on
Anti-microbial Stewardship in Companion Animal Practice. @700 PM
March 9 - Dr. Cythnia B. Ward on Diabetes Tidbits: Updates on the Clinical
Approach to Diabetes Mellitus in Dogs.
March 16 - Bonnie Lutz, Esq., on Current Trends in Veterinary Regulatory
and Malpractice Cases.
March 23 - Drs. Jennifer Lopez and
Brad Ryan on Dermatophytosis:
Doesn't it Have a Nice Ring to It?
March 30 - Dr. Gregory Lisciandro on
The Day I Didn't Use My Ultrasound.
What Did I Miss?

Based on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vaccination Program
Interim Playbook for Jurisdiction Operations (issued in September, 2020, with updated recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in December
2020), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's Guidance on the Essential
Critical Infrastructure Workforce (updated in December, 2020), and the CDC's mapping of
the CISA guidance to specific phases (January, 2021) those providing " veterinary services "
(e.g., veterinarians and their teams) are recommended to be included in Phase 1-b.
Because actual work functions may impact an individual's exposure risk, further categorization is possible based on the individual's inability to work remotely and the need
to work in close proximity to others. In addition, subcategories of essential workers may
need to be given priority differently depending on local needs.
AVMA has been working diligently with state and local veterinary groups to monitor vaccine rollout plans and continues advocating for veterinary teams' access. Many states indicate that they plan to include veterinary personnel in phase 1-a, b, or c of their rollouts, but
these plans remain in flux as more is learned about the quantity of vaccines available.
CVMA in its most recent information notes:

The CVMA has received confirmation from members that veterinarians and veterinary
staff are being vaccinated as part of Phase 1a in various counties. While there is some
* variance in policy between counties, public health officials are generally recognizing
* veterinarians and veterinary staff as healthcare workers and thus are providing
* vaccinations. The CVMA has also learned that counties not currently vaccinating
* veterinarians and veterinary staff are planning to do so in Phase 1b.
SCVMA reports that there are county by county differences in access to the vaccination for veterinarians and veterinary team members. Los Angeles County still
has a large number of human healthcare workers that it is working to get vaccinated. As a result of this and the limited access to vaccinations, vaccinating veterinary providers has been delayed and veterinary staff will most likely be included
in the Phase 1b rollout. Orange County has been able to vaccinate a large number
of veterinary team members and continues to do so as of the moment.
We will keep you up to date as new information is shared.

April 6 - Dr. Jess Trimble on Connected Care Medical Case Studies.
April 13 - Speaker and topic TBA on
ophthalmology.
April 20 - Stephen Cital, RVT, on Cannabis: Hemp and Me: What to Know
and Do.
April 27 - Dr. Shelly Adrian on Probiotic Therapy: The Gut and Beyond.
Thank you to the following sponsors
for these programs: VCA, Boehringer
Ingelehim, Klinedinst, Antech, Oncura,
Anipanion, PetNetwork, Purina.
To sign up: www.scvma.org/
calendar-of-events/
10

MARCH 2021

PULSE

http://www.scvma.org/calendar-of-events/ http://www.scvma.org/calendar-of-events/

Pulse - March 2021

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