Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Can Steve Brandau Use His COVID Diagnosis as Leverage to Get a Vaccine to the County Sooner?
TLBBHMAP3-U010ALB5ANM-348f959abae2-512-300x300-1
By Jim Jakobs, Digital Producer
Published 4 years ago on
November 8, 2020

Share

Following Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau’s positive COVID-19 test, officials announced the temporary closure of offices at the County Hall of Records and directed staff to quarantine.

”Upon learning of the positive test, we took quick and appropriate action per our safety protocols to close our offices and send staff home to protect against any potential spread of the virus,” said chief administrative officer Jean Rousseau.

Brandau spoke with GV Wire℠ after learning he had tested positive for COVID-19.

In a wide ranging interview, one of the main topics that came up was how Brandau could use his diagnosis to affect positive change for Fresno County residents. Just hours before our interview, drug company Astrazeneca announced a COVID-19 vaccine could arrive in January.

The county still has millions in CARES Act dollars available and the money must be spent by December, according to Brandau.

Q&A: Vaccine Leverage

GV Wire℠: AstraZeneca just came out today and said they hope to have results of their trials done by either the end of this month or early December in the hopes of having a vaccine out in January. Now, with your COVID-19 diagnosis, will the county make efforts to try and obtain AstraZeneca for members on the board or people in general here?”

Brandau: “Yeah, that’s that’s a good question. It’s probably even higher than my pay grade. So I don’t know that the county you know, I don’t know what the government has planned when it comes to distribution of the of all the cures for COVID-19. And I know there’s two, three, four or five of them that are kind of stage getting ready to come forward. And so it might be that the government through the county, through the state, through the federal government, really does allow people to get those get all of those fixes for free. I don’t know if in that case, I’m glad to be a part of it. I don’t think it’s going to be able to impact my personal COVID-19. So until then, I’m busy taking cough drops and drinking a lot of water. But it’s something we will consider when the time comes for sure.”

Q&A: Cares Act Money

Steve Brandau

“And so maybe there’s some way that we could still help people as they obtain these things (COVID-19 vaccine) with CARES act dollars. And we certainly have tens of millions of dollars left.”Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau

GV Wire℠: “How much CARES Act money is left in the county coffers, and is that something that could be utilized to purchase vaccine as soon as it becomes available to get it out to residents of Fresno County?”

Brandau: “I probably don’t have an up to date answer on how much CARES Act dollars are left. But I do know that we have tens of millions of dollars left. Fresno County got close to one hundred million dollars. The city of Fresno itself got something like $93 million. And Fresno County still have tens of millions of dollars to spend on COVID-19 that we need to spend before December. I don’t think it’s enough to provide everybody, you know, with the antivirus (vaccine). Right. So that’s going to be very expensive, as is the testing. But it’s maybe we can reduce the cost or we could find a way of helping impact people getting the antiviruses (vaccines) as their released. And so maybe there’s some way that we could still help people as they obtain these things with CARES Act dollars. And we certainly have tens of millions of dollars left.”

DON'T MISS

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

DON'T MISS

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

DON'T MISS

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

DON'T MISS

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

DON'T MISS

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

DON'T MISS

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

DON'T MISS

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

DON'T MISS

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

UP NEXT

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

UP NEXT

These Fresno Schools Are Unsafe and in Bad Condition. And No One Is Complaining

UP NEXT

What Will Happen to CNBC and MSNBC When They No Longer Have a Corporate Connection to NBC News?

UP NEXT

Bulldogs Stack Double-Doubles Like Burgers on a Plate to Beat Prairie View

UP NEXT

Major Storm Drops Record Rain, Downs Trees in Northern California After Devastation Further North

UP NEXT

Fresno County Men Arrested in Armed Robbery Near Sanger High, Sanger Academy

UP NEXT

Newsom Heads to Fresno, a County That Voted for Trump

UP NEXT

Conservative Professors and Students Are Beating CA Community Colleges in Court

UP NEXT

Suspect Arrested After Oakhurst Crime Spree Leaves K9 Injured

UP NEXT

With or Without Lockridge, Can Bulldogs Get Out of Their Own Way to Become Bowl Eligible?

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

47 minutes ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

1 hour ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

1 hour ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

2 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

2 hours ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

2 hours ago

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

2 hours ago

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

3 hours ago

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Breaks NCAA Wins Record With 1,217th Victory

4 hours ago

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

4 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

Three of the nation’s largest automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, are strategizing with other car manufacturers on how to make ...

2 minutes ago

President Joe Biden with Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, at the Detroit Auto Show, Sept. 14, 2022. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to erase the Biden administration’s tailpipe rules designed to get carmakers to produce electric vehicles, but most U.S. automakers want to keep them. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
2 minutes ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

5 minutes ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

26 minutes ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseum, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Greensboro, NC. (AP/Alex Brandon)
47 minutes ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

1 hour ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

1 hour ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

2 hours ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

2 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend