The Sonoma State University cheer team has not only been practicing during the pandemic, but they are holding virtual tryouts at the end of April to fulfill their future white and blue squad.

The team’s ultimate goal is to be able to practice face-to-face while keeping social distancing in mind. Head coach Kaylie Poiani and Safety Officer Tersita Montalvo took it upon themselves to ensure the safety of their team while being able to make that goal a reality. Temperatures are taken at the start of every practice as well as sanitizing different pieces of equipment like tumbling mats.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, masks have become essential ranging from a disposable surgical mask, different cloth masks, and full face shields of all different styles. The most common ones worn by people today include: cloth, filtered, disposable surgical, cone-style, N95 masks, and many more. The question remains, which type of mask is most effective in protecting the population from COVID-19?

A scheduling website operating over the course of a week for a clinic in Rohnert Park called OptumServe, was forced to cancel thousands of appointments following a mix-up in the requirements for the vaccine. The company mistakenly listed the eligible immunization age at 65, but intended to list the minimum age as 75 years or older. The Press Democrat states, “County officials said 85% of the vaccine appointments set had to be canceled,” due to the fact that the individuals were ineligible to receive the vaccine at that time. This led to the turn away of many patients and the cancellation of 9,000 plus vaccination appointments.

2020 had its ups and downs regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, however, there is hope in 2021 and going forward. Sonoma County developed plans to immunize all local residents and prevent further outbreak.

The County has vaccinated approximately 100,000 residents with their first dose and approximately 32,000 residents with their second and final dose. Overall, Sonoma County has distributed a total of 162,176 doses of the vaccine as of Jan. 26, according to SoCo Emergency. This data does not include the vaccines distributed by CVS or Walgreens, as those are maintained and administered by the federal government.