Nearly three years after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared triggering lockdowns and restrictions, the light at the end of the tunnel is shining brightly.
Both California and San Diego County's coronavirus emergency declarations expired Tuesday, illustrating a turning point in the years-long battle against COVID-19. But the end of the emergency declaration isn’t just symbolic, it represents a shift in the way state and local officials will approach the pandemic.
What that means is the COVID-19 operations will shift from a full-blown emergency response to being handled by our local public health officials.
Mass vaccination and testing clinics will no longer be operating. Those efforts will instead be consolidated into the county's six main public health centers.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
Additionally, health insurance companies won't have to fully cover COVID vaccines, testing, and therapeutics after Nov. 11.
One local UCSD doctor says we need to turn the page on the emergency declaration, but he still has concerns, particularly on who will handle COVID treatment and vaccines.
"What does it mean in terms of the emergency use and other authorizations going away? It's just mostly about who pays for what. So, the government pays for most of our COVID things now, including testing and treatments and vaccinations and now it's gonna go back to our basically private health care system," said Davey Smith, M.D. and UCSD Chief of Infectious Diseases.
"I worry a lot around that because our private health care system doesn't do too well in terms of equity and equality for people. And what we know with infectious diseases, which we have always known, is that infectious disease hits the most vulnerable first. And those are often times people without private healthcare, backing and support," Smith added.
“Measures such as mask-wearing indoors or some restrictions of public gatherings in public spaces, or mandatory testing and, and such now have to go more through a sort of approval process," said Paul Schalch-Lepe, MD, FACS, otolaryngologist. "And you cannot enact them in short term.”
San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said we are in a good place with the virus.
"It’s not really gonna mean much for folks out there. I think that the last COVID-related restriction was lifted about a year and a half ago so folks living their life they wont notice anything different – I think it is an administrative function that serves as a symbolic kind of closing of a chapter," San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said.
The state says masks will still be required in high-risk settings such as hospitals and nursing homes.
Top Stories on NBC 7 San Diego
“It's not that the COVID-19 infection is gonna go away, [that] we're never gonna hear about it again, it's just that now we've passed that threshold in terms of the number of cases and hospital admissions and things like that, that don't require us to have these emergency measures in place,” said Schalch-Lepe.
The County of San Diego said they would continue to respond to the ongoing pandemic by testing, treating and vaccinating. So far, 80% of San Diegans have received at least their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines but the county urges San Diegans to receive the Bivalent booster. Only about 22.9% of San Diegans have received those.
"Make no mistake, this is not the time to let your guard down. The virus is still circulating throughout the community. People are still being hospitalized and dying," Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten said in a statement. "So protect yourself, your family and friends. We strongly urge people to get current with their COVID-19 vaccinations, including the bivalent booster.”
The end of the county's emergency declaration also means weekly updates on the coronavirus situation will end.
The coronavirus still infects nearly 3,000 people and kills an average of 20 every day in California. But more than ever, Dr. Shaulch-Lepe says the virus has become something we must live with.
“It's still out there and we shouldn't forget that but, of course, we've learned a lot,” said Schalch-Lepe. “We have now, not only vaccines but also treatments, you know, medications that can be prescribed and initiated whenever someone's developing severe symptoms.”
And while there is a light at the end of the tunnel, Dr. Shalch-Lepe urges the community to stay up to date with their vaccinations and keep taking the necessary precautions.
“Those are common sense, easy measures that we can all follow to try to prevent this from spreading and becoming a bigger issue again,” said Schalch-Lepe.
Meanwhile, the nation’s COVID public emergency doesn't end until May.
