The Moderna vaccine, approved only a few days ago by the FDA, has arrived in the Bay Area.
Marin and Contra Costa counties received batches of the vaccine Monday morning, health officers say. San Francisco is expecting 6,000 doses later this week.
Marin Public Health Officer Matt Willis says the county received 3,000 doses on Monday, with 700 of those earmarked for first responders in West Marin. Many hospital workers and staff at congregate living centers in the county have already received a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which requires two shots three weeks apart.
"At some of these sites, especially in the skilled nursing facilities, there is literally music playing," he said about the arrival of the vaccines. "Staff was dancing at one of the facilities, just because they have been so hard hit by this. There's been so much stress."
Willis says the Moderna vaccine, which doesn't require as frigid a temperature as Pfizer's, will be especially useful in more rural areas.
Tempering news of the vaccine's arrival is the steady increase in Marin County cases and hospitalizations.
On Sunday, the county logged its second-highest daily case count.
"And that's just coming into the holidays," Willis said. "We might see that amplified even more. So that's obviously a serious concern for us as we start seeing dwindling health care resources."