SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio's Metro Health has a new leader. Claude Jacob is two weeks into the job and comes to San Antonio in the middle of a pandemic.
Jacob, a married father of three, comes to the Lone Star State from Massachusetts. He has over 20 years of experience in public health. He brings his experience in New England here to San Antonio, and says the strategy to fight COVID here, is largely the same from up north.
He told KENS 5, "At the end of the day, our strategies, are mitigation strategies, mirror one another -- masks, maintain the appropriate social distancing, encouraging folks to become vaccinated, be vaccinated."
For the unvaccinated, Jacob says masking is a must, not just to protect you, but the immunocompromised who can't get the vaccine. Jacob said, "You know, when I say seatbelt, no one questions that. When we say bike helmet, no one questions that. But if I say mask, what's the next word? People think mandate."
But now with the increase in the positivity rate to 13.5%, and hospitalizations numbers that are jumping, he will continue to hammer home Metro Health's plea to vaccinate.
Jacob added, "Sadly, we see, especially in the last few weeks, the long share of folks being hospitalized associated with COVID. It's because they have not been vaccinated."
Of course, COVID is not the only challenge San Antonio has to battle.
Jacob said, "The rest of the work doesn't stop. So our work around asthma education, our work around diabetes prevention. We've heard the City Manager reference violence, domestic violence."
But with the greatest focus on COVID, Jacob said Metro Health will roll out a campaign in August, which is National Immunization Awareness Month, to take advantage of that window of opportunity to amplify the City's message to get vaccinated.
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