JIC RELEASE NO. 543 - Results: 7 of 644 Test Positive for COVID-19;SNAP Supplemental Emergency Allotment Issuances for January 2021; Food Commodities Distribution Through Village Mayors Continues;COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic Schedule for January 22 and 23

Results: Seven New Cases of COVID-19
Seven (7) new cases of COVID-19 were identified out of 644 tests performed on Wednesday, January 20. Seven (7) cases reported recent travel and were identified in quarantine.

To date, there have been a total of 7,528 officially reported cases of COVID-19 with 128 deaths, 121 cases in active isolation and 7,279 not in active isolation.

1The COVID Area Risk (CAR) Score accounts for the incidence of new cases, how well current testing identifies these cases, and the rate of spread. The ideal long-term goal is to sustain a CAR Score of 2.5 or less, which has been shown to correlate with very low to zero COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths. 

The following tables provide COVID-19 test results reported to the Joint Information Center on Thursday, January 21 and reflects results from Wednesday, January 20:

The following provides COVID-19 vaccinations reported to the Joint Information Center on Thursday, January 21 for vaccinations administered from December 17 to January 20:

*Administering second doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccinations began on January 4, 2021.
**Administering first doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccinations began on January 8, 2021.

SNAP Supplemental Emergency Allotment Issuances for January 2021
The Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) announces that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Supplemental Emergency Allotment for the month of January 2021 will be released on Friday, January 22, 2021. These benefits will be electronically loaded into the SNAP recipients' EBT cards.

The law authorized the issuance of emergency supplemental benefits to households receiving SNAP up to the maximum allowable SNAP monthly benefit for a household's size. Calculation is based on the number of eligible household members. Households that already received the maximum benefit for their household's size will not receive an additional emergency allotment. For more information, please contact the numbers below:

• Bureau of Economic Security (BES) North at 635-7484/8/7439/7396/7429
• BES Central (Ran-Care) at 300-8853/8854/8850/8865

Food Commodities Distribution Through Village Mayors Continues
The Guam Department of Education (GDOE), State Agency for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Nutrition Service (FNS) continues the distribution of food commodities through each mayor at the village level.  Recipients will receive TEFAP food commodities per household that may include instant milk, canned pears, canned mixed fruits, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, canned beef, canned chicken, frozen shrimp, kidney beans, pistachios, oat circle cereal, bottled orange juice, and banana chips.  Food commodity distribution in each village will be available to village constituents only and residents should call their respective mayor’s office for more information. 

Participants are reminded to wear a mask, maintain physical distancing, and follow all traffic directions and signage.

Village Mayor’s distribution schedule for this week is as follows:

First Dose Vaccination Clinic on Jan. 22-23 at Southern Region Community Health Center
DPHSS, in partnership with the Office of the Governor, Guam Department of Education (GDOE), Mayors’ Council of Guam (MCOG), Department of Public Works (DPW), Guam Department of Labor (GDOL), Guam Fire Department (GFD), Guam Police Department (GPD), Guam National Guard (GUNG), University of Guam (UOG) School of Nursing and Health Sciences, and the Serve Guam Commission which oversees the AmeriCorps Guam Program, will continue its COVID-19 vaccination clinic the Southern Region Community Health Center (SRCHC) in Inarajan on Friday, January 22 and Saturday, January 23, starting at 8:30 a.m. for Phase 1c (individuals 60 years and older) to receive Pfizer-BioNTech Dose One.

DPHSS will issue up to 250 tickets at SRCHC per day for vaccinations on a first-come, first-served basis to patients in their vehicles only. Patient Parking Instructions will be printed on the back of each ticket. Please bring a photo ID.

First Dose Vaccination Clinic on January 23 at Okkodo High School
The DPHSS COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic at Okkodo High School in Dededo will resume on Saturday, January 23, starting at 8:30 a.m. for Phase 1c (individuals 60 years and older) to receive Pfizer-BioNTech Dose One. DPHSS will issue vaccination tickets on a first-come, first-served basis to patients in their vehicles only. Patient Parking Instructions will be printed on the back of each ticket. Please bring a photo ID.

Pre-screening Eligibility Vaccinations

To take the COVID-19 vaccine, you must meet the following pre-screening eligibility criteria*:

• Must not be currently infected with COVID-19, or previously exposed within the last 14 days
• Must not have received any other vaccine, such as the flu shot, in the last 14 days

*Please note: If this is your first time receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, please make sure you have never taken other COVID-19 vaccine products. Please visit dphss.guam.gov to view the pre-screening eligibility.

V-Safe Vaccine Symptom Monitoring 
Individuals who have received the COVID-19 vaccine are encouraged to register for the tool called v-safe, offered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). V-safe is a smartphone-based tool that uses text messaging and web surveys to provide personalized health check-ins after you receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Through v-safe, you can quickly tell CDC if you have any side effects after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Depending on your answers, someone from CDC may call to check on you. V-safe will remind you to get your second COVID-19 vaccine dose if you need one. Sign up for v-safe with your smartphone’s browser athttps://vsafe.cdc.gov.

GBHWC Crisis Hotline
The Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center (GBHWC) has a Crisis Hotline that is available 24/7 at (671) 647-8833/4. For those feeling anxious, stressed, overwhelmed or are needing to talk to someone, GBHWC has experienced providers available and ready to assist the community with any heightened stress and anxiety experienced as a result of COVID-19.

For the latest information on COVID-19, visit dphss.guam.gov or guamrecovery.com. For inquiries on COVID-19, contact 311 through a local number, or call the Joint Information Center at (671) 478-0208/09/10. 

Click  here to view VaccinateGU

Click  here to view Prescreening Eligibility