Operation Independence: One County, One Mission

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Today in Orange County, California, the adjusted case rate for COVID-19 positivity is 2.9 per 100,000, overall testing positivity is 1.6%, and testing positivity in the lowest equity quartile is 1.8%. The percentage of adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients who are COVID-19 positive is 8%, and ICU bed availability in the county is 35.2%. This is a success story based on data-driven decision making and prioritizing the most vulnerable members of a community. Utilizing the data to make informed public health decisions and decompress demand on the private sector, the OC Health Care Agency (HCA), as part of the County of Orange (County), took the lead in offering vaccinations to the county’s residents. The County embarked upon a public/private partnership to create a scalable and sustainable vaccine delivery system that maximizes efficiency, quality, and patient satisfaction, contains costs, improves health outcomes, and addresses equity, vaccinating the most vulnerable populations first. Our data revealed that 72.3% of hospitalized cases were over age 60, and that hospital cases were rising most rapidly among 65 to 84 year-olds. We prioritized this population for vaccination, even while the rest of the state was limiting vaccinations to frontline healthcare workers. This had an immediate impact on curbing the spread of infection and decreased the incidence of hospitalization and death. To date, Orange County has vaccinated 80% of its residents age 65 and older.