Santa Clara County COVID-19 Vaccinations Top 1 Million; Great America Reopens
SANTA CLARA (KPIX) -- The Bay Area's largest county hit a major milestone this week when it surpassed its millionth COVID-19 vaccine administered, Santa Clara County health officials announced Saturday.
The public health department's website showed 1,034,265 eligible residents have now completed their vaccination. That means 60.3 percent of the population is now fully vaccinated.
As of Saturday, 73.8 percent of residents had received their first dose of the vaccine.
The news comes just one day after state leaders announced California would fully reopen on June 15 and there would no longer be capacity restrictions or social-distancing requirements.
"We've done everything, I think, we could to do all the safety precautions and I think the data is showing that we're able to open up safely now," said Bay Area resident Monica Ramos. "I think it's just time for the economy and also our mental health."
Ramos was at California's Great America in Santa Clara with her family on Saturday, the first day the amusement park opened its gates since Dec. 31, 2019.
The park had closed for the season and never reopened last year because of the pandemic.
"It is fantastic to watch the community come back to their park," said Great America vice president and general manager Barb Granter. "I have not been this happy in over a year."
The park is operating at one-third full capacity -- 7,000 people a day -- until its new water park opens in the beginning of June. Then it will increase attendance capacity.
Great America's opening coincides with the county's transition to the state's less-restrictive yellow tier earlier this week.
"We're just happy to be outdoors and around other people," Ramos said.
Across the parking lot at Levi's Stadium, Fernando Oseguera is a little more hesitant about the state's plan to reopen in three weeks. He was at the stadium with his 15-year-old son who had just received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"I feel good with him being vaccinated, I think it's important, we don't want to get into the situation we had in December," Oseguera said. "Not sure if I'm ready for everybody not to have a mask on. I don't know, it's a little scary but we'll see."
