Stanislaus County’s coronavirus vaccine outlook greatly improves. What happened?
Stanislaus County suddenly has a much larger allocation of coronavirus vaccine and is rolling out new efforts to get it into arms.
Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county public health officer, told county supervisors Tuesday a weekly state allocation has increased to 9,000 doses, up from a previous 5,800.
County staff said 1,324 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered Monday to educators and school staff at a closed dispensing site, or pod, in Turlock. Additional closed pods are planned as school districts make plans for reopening campuses in March for in-person instruction.
Starting this week, the county expanded eligibility for vaccinations to school and childcare employees age 50 and over. The newly eligible also include employees 50 or older in the food and agriculture sectors. The county and school districts plan to offer COVID vaccine shots to 17,400 school employees of all ages; there’s no word on when the 50-plus age restriction will be lifted.
The 9,000 doses is the state allocation for the county’s public health agency. Federal sources and private health providers also are expected to make more vaccine available.
The more positive outlook at Tuesday’s board meeting came four days after the county closed public vaccine clinics until further notice due to a Moderna vaccine shipment that was temporarily stalled by severe weather in other states. County staff worked over the weekend to get things ready for reopening public clinics Tuesday.
“This is the first good news we have had,” county board Chairman Vito Chiesa said.
County clinics will be open through Friday to inoculate eligible county residents or people who work in the county on a first-come, first-served basis. Check for eligibility requirements, times and locations at www.schsa.org under “COVID-19 vaccine.”
Officials have estimated that 38,000 doses administered every week would achieve immunity in the county population by July. The county has 430,000 residents in the 16 and older age group who can receive coronavirus vaccine, whether it’s through county clinics, community health centers, closed pods and state-run options or private health systems.
In another development, the OptumServe testing site at the Marshall Park neighborhood center is being converted to a 420-dose-per-day vaccination site positioned in west Modesto, where neighborhoods have been stricken by COVID outbreaks. The state has a partnership with OptumServe.
The chief executive for Kaiser Permanente said over the weekend the state has increased its weekly vaccine allocation. Kaiser, the Oakland-based health provider for 1 in 4 residents in California, expects to receive 20 percent of the state vaccine supply this week.
“In the coming weeks, as new supplies allow, we are broadening availability in the 65 years and older age group starting with those at higher risk, and anticipate expanding to additional populations as approved by the state,” Kaiser said in a statement.
Kaiser, which operates a medical center and healthcare offices in Modesto, said it has almost completed offering vaccination appointments to 270,000 patients age 75 and older. The health provider identifies patients as they become eligible for vaccine shots and contacts them with information for making an appointment.
A federal authorization on Friday could trigger production of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that’s administered in a single dose. The availability of the new vaccine is expected to boost supplies in California in May and June.
County staff said 80,945 county residents have received either one or two shots of the available Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.
This story was originally published February 23, 2021 at 1:56 PM.
