Stanislaus County COVID clinics reopen only to shut down again due to lack of vaccines
Hundreds of people turned out Thursday for COVID-19 vaccination clinics at Modesto Centre Plaza and Stanislaus State University.
Stanislaus County reopened its vaccination clinics Thursday after a two-day hiatus. Both the Modesto and Turlock clinics were one-day affairs.
A county spokesperson said the clinics will be closed Friday because there is not enough vaccine on hand to continue. The county Health Services Agency will announce additional clinic dates when an ample supply of vaccine is available, said spokesperson Kamlesh Kaur.
The public can expect sporadic opening and closing of coronavirus vaccination clinics until steady supplies of vaccine are available from the state. The state in turn says it’s not nearly getting enough vaccine from the federal government, and that may not change until additional coronavirus vaccines get approval in March.
The county agency posts information about clinic times and locations on the StanEmergency Facebook page.
The county identified Gladys Lemmons Senior Center in Oakdale and Creekside Middle School in Patterson as coronavirus vaccination hubs for the eastern and western sections of the county, respectively. The county was shooting to open those clinics next week. No dates are scheduled yet.
The county clinics have offered COVID-19 vaccine to health care workers and others in Phase 1A, including county residents 65 and older.
County officials have estimated there are 35,000 people in the three tiers of Phase IA, between hospital workers, home care, primary care staff, emergency medical, dental office employees and others. Seniors 65 years and older are also eligible for vaccinations against COVID-19.
Kaur, a health educator for the county, said by noon Thursday about 600 people had arrived at each clinic site in Modesto and Turlock. The county planned to administer 1,000 doses at each clinic.
In addition, the county has signed up more than 20 health providers, such as primary care offices and pharmacies, for providing vaccines to their patients and customers who are eligible for vaccine under the state’s priority system.
But the stumbling block is availability of vaccine. California is receiving about 400,000 or 500,000 doses per week from the federal government, and doses are trickling out to the 58 counties.
A state health official said Wednesday it could take four to five months at the current rate to vaccinate 70 percent of the 6.2 million California residents who are 65 or older.
Moderna vaccine lot can be safely used, state says
Stanislaus County used the vaccine it had on hand to reopen the clinics Thursday after a state advisory placed a hold on a batch of Moderna vaccine early this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration investigated a small number of allergic reactions in people given the Moderna Lot 41L20A in San Diego.
The state issued a determination Wednesday evening that it was safe to use the vaccine again.
Stanislaus County received 5,100 doses from that Moderna lot consisting of 330,000 doses; of those, 2,000 were distributed to health providers and 849 doses were administered. The county has received no reports of side effects from the doses administered locally.
Kaur said Thursday county officials were deciding how much of the Moderna vaccine should be given to health providers and how much should be reserved for its vaccination clinics.
Save Mart pharmacies were also affected by the alert regarding the Moderna lot this week. The five select Save Mart pharmacies in Modesto, Ceres, Patterson and Riverbank stopped making appointments for vaccinations but were again scheduling appointments Thursday. Customers should expect a wait.
The Save Mart pharmacies, including the ones at 2100 Standiford Ave. and 3601 Pelandale Road in Modesto, are among providers approved by the county to administer COVID-19 vaccine.
Save Mart along with Patterson Family Pharmacy and Del Puerto Health Clinic, also in Patterson, are offering vaccine to eligible county residents.
The county’s list also contains providers offering vaccine to their eligible patients by appointment. They include: Golden Valley Health Center on Whitmore Avenue in Ceres; Family Health Care Medical Group; Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente, county health clinics and local hospitals; Rogers Drug and U.S. Renal dialysis center.
Sutter needs more vaccine to broaden scope
Sacramento-based Sutter Health said it has administered more than 35,000 first doses to its healthcare workforce spread across its network of clinics and hospitals in the Central Valley and Bay Area. It is also offering vaccine to community health workers and its most vulnerable patients including seniors age 75 and older.
Eligible Sutter patients can schedule appointments through an online portal.
“As vaccine supply and appointment capacity expands, we will broaden eligibility and notify our patients,” said a Sutter corporate statement for media outlets. “Sutter is engaging with state and local public health officials to identify opportunities to partner on broader community vaccination efforts as supply increases.”
Ali Wright, owner of Patterson Family Pharmacy, said it’s taking about a week for a caller to get a shot from the pharmacy’s curbside service once they are on the waiting list. When the pharmacy receives a new shipment of vaccine, it starts making appointments for people on the list, which currently has about 300 names.
That could change as more calls come in. “We are doing our best to vaccinate people as quickly as possible,” Wright said.
Older seniors are overlooked
Some older county residents say they can’t stand in line for hours at public clinics waiting for a shot.
Seniors like Ralph Lozano of Turlock said realistic options are not offered for older seniors even though they are highly vulnerable to COVID-19.
Lozano, 81, said he is on oxygen 24 hours per day because of lung cancer that’s in remission. His 82-year-old wife had back surgery six months ago.
“It would be impossible for us to stand in line for several hours to get inoculated,” Lozano said. When he found his general practitioner didn’t have vaccine for patients, Lozano inquired and got the same answer from a specialist and his cardiologist.
Lozano said he’s capable of driving his wife and himself to a curbside clinic or appointments for the two shots.
This story was originally published January 21, 2021 at 2:26 PM.
