Vaccine updates: Sacramento hits 1 million doses, J&J to resume shipments to California
As it marches toward having half of its total population at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, California next week is scheduled to receive more than 2 million doses, including a resumption in shipments of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.
Federal allocation data released Tuesday shows the Golden State will receive about 1.94 million total first and second doses of Pfizer and Moderna’s two-dose vaccines, plus 87,800 shots of J&J.
Use of J&J had been under a recommended pause by U.S. health officials from April 13 through April 23 while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with the Food and Drug Administration investigated a very small number of blood clotting conditions in recipients.
The CDC and FDA lifted the pause last Friday, and Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health announced over the weekend that use of J&J could resume in the state.
The single-dose vaccine will again make up less than 5% of the state’s allocation next week, as the manufacturer has been hampered by production problems unrelated to the pause, but CDC data indicated there were about 1.2 million shots of J&J remaining in California providers’ inventories prior to the pause.
CDPH reported Wednesday that providers to date have administered at least 29,000,025 total doses of the three vaccines.
More than 11.9 million Californians are now fully vaccinated with either two shots of Pfizer or Moderna, or one shot of J&J — a total that now represents 30% of the state’s population. Another 6.4 million are partially vaccinated with a first dose of Pfizer or Moderna.
That puts the total for Californians with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine close to 18.5 million, which is about 46% of the state’s roughly 40 million residents and 59% of its 31 million adults. None of the vaccines authorized in the U.S. have been cleared for use in children under 16.
Largely due to the J&J production issues, vaccine supply in California has been flatter than expected for April and now the first week of May, with the CDC reporting allocations of between about 1.9 million and 2 million doses per week since the start of this month. In late March, Newsom said the state expected to ramp up to 3 million doses a week by around the end of May.
However, California also has nearly 6.4 million doses “on hand,” in providers’ inventories but not yet used, according to a CDPH data tracker updated Wednesday. The state says it has administered 79% of the doses received from manufacturers.
The CDC on Tuesday revised some guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals, essentially saying it is safe for them to go without a mask outdoors except in crowd settings.
Newsom in a written statement said the state health department will quickly review the changes and may adjust California’s mask mandate.
The updates come amid growing scientific and medical consensus that outdoor transmission of the coronavirus is much rarer than indoor spread.
How many are fully, partially vaccinated in Sacramento area?
These are the totals for combined first and second doses, administered through Tuesday, as reported by the state public health department, by recipient county of residence.
▪ Sacramento: 1,003,441 (63,996 doses per 100,000 residents)
▪ El Dorado: 128,355 (66,471 doses per 100,000)
▪ Placer: 293,286 (73,242 doses per 100,000)
▪ Yolo: 170,283 (76,151 doses per 100,000)
Here is what percentage of each county’s total population is fully and partially vaccinated, according to CDPH data.
Sacramento County in Wednesday’s update surpassed 1 million total doses administered to residents. More than 600,000 have received at least one dose in the county, which has a population of about 1.5 million including more than 1.2 million adults.
Figures may be undercounts due to data reporting delays.
Travis AFB, Northern California VA locations giving vaccines
Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield announced last week it is opening appointments to “all individuals, 18 and older” at David Grant USAF Medical Center” because it is receiving a “steady” supply of the Moderna vaccine. Appointment registration is available at informatics-stage.health.mil/covax.
Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care is now offering COVID-19 vaccinations to veterans and their families at 11 clinic locations: Auburn, Chico, Fairfield, Mare Island, Martinez, Mather, McClellan, Oakland, Redding, Yreka and Yuba City.
As of this week, all of the above except Yreka are offering walk-in clinics with no appointment necessary.
Clinic days and times vary by location. More details are available at northerncalifornia.va.gov.
Sacramento-area health offices, public clinics and pharmacies
Most county health offices are splitting their direct allocations among their own county-run clinics, non-chain hospitals and other partners, including some Safeway pharmacies.
CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens offer vaccine appointments at some of their pharmacies across California as part of a federal retail pharmacy partnership. Sam’s Club and Walmart stores also recently began offering vaccines in some parts of California. More details are available via those companies’ websites.
Sacramento
Sacramento County continues to offer drive-thru vaccine clinics at Cal Expo, McClellan Park and Natomas High School; and walk-thru clinics at California Northstate University in Elk Grove and at Sacramento State.
Cal Expo, which had used J&J before the pause, is now scheduling clinics using Pfizer.
There are also numerous first-dose clinics run by community partners this week, including Friday clinics at City Church Sacramento in Oak Park, at the Orange Grove School, at Salam Islamic Center on College Oak Drive and at Pucci’s Pharmacy in midtown.
Pucci’s Pharmacy is offering appointments for J&J as well as Moderna. Salam Islamic Center is giving Moderna.
The county education office in Mather also has first-dose clinics planned this Thursday and Friday, giving Pfizer.
With eligibility expanded to older teens, Sacramento County reminds that only the Pfizer vaccine is approved for minors ages 16 and 17.
Many clinics continue to require appointments in advance, but walk-in availability is becoming more common as supply increases and demand slows. Scheduling and booking information can be found at dhs.saccounty.net.
Sacramento also has CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens stores participating in the federal partnership program, and the county is also partnered with 11 Safeway pharmacies.
El Dorado
El Dorado runs clinics at its public health offices in Placerville and South Lake Tahoe.
The county recently announced Saturday first-dose Moderna clinics at the El Dorado Community Health Center in Cameron Park. The county is also offering its final clinic at the parking structure at Red Hawk Casino in Placerville this Thursdays.
The Red Hawk and Placerville public health office clinics give Pfizer shots. The South Lake Tahoe clinic uses Moderna.
El Dorado County notes on its website that J&J has been cleared for use, but it is not listed as being given at any of the clinics planned for this week. J&J doses made up about 11% of the county health office’s supply inventory as of Tuesday, officials say.
Walgreens in Cameron Park and the CVS store on Palmer Drive in Cameron Park offer Moderna vaccine appointments as part of the federal retail pharmacy partnership.
The county is also partnered with six Safeway stores.
More detailed information on county-run and county-partnered vaccine clinics can be found at edcgov.us/Government/hhsa/edccovid-19-clinics.
Placer
Placer County offers its county-run clinics at The Grounds, formerly the Placer County Fairgrounds, in Roseville.
The county said on its website that, “due to decreased vaccine allotments,” the county was planning on two first-dose clinics this week, one Wednesday and another Thursday. Each is offering shots of Pfizer.
Appointment links for qualifying residents are posted as they become available at placer.ca.gov/vaccineclinics and through MyTurn.
Placer is also partnered with eight Safeway pharmacies throughout the county.
According to the CVS website, there are stores participating in the federal vaccine partnership in Auburn and Rocklin. There may also be availability at Rite Aid and Walgreens stores; users should check with individual stores for eligibility, the county says.
Appointments can also be made at Remedy RX Pharmacy in Roseville through a local partnership.
Yolo
Yolo County is running three private and three public vaccination clinics this week.
Planned private clinics included second doses for previous private clinics Wednesday and Saturday, as well as a first-dose clinic for Cache Creek Casino on Thursday.
Yolo is holding public clinics this coming Thursday, Friday and Sunday, with appointments not required for any of them.
The county will give shots of both Pfizer and J&J on Thursday at La Superior in Woodland, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.; jabs of Pfizer on Friday at the HHSA Bauer building in Woodland, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.; and jabs of Pfizer Sunday, at Harper Junior High School in Davis, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
All three public clinics are available for residents 16 and older. Thursday’s clinic is a walk-thru, while the other two are drive-thrus.
More details regarding county-run clinics are available on the county website at yolocounty.org.
Hospital systems
Hospital systems operating in multiple counties receive their own allocations from the state.
Sutter Health also confirms on its patient website that it has resumed J&J vaccine appointments. The hospital network is opening first-dose appointments for all three vaccine brands “as supply allows.”
Sutter on its patient website says it has administered more than 625,000 doses to date.
UC Davis Health is using the state’s My Turn website as well as its MyUCDavisHealth app to schedule vaccination appointments for UC Health patients as well as non-patients.
The UC Davis Health website still shows J&J doses as being on pause.
Kaiser Permanente is vaccinating patients in eligible groups, regardless of Kaiser membership.
Kaiser Permanente said in an update last week that it had administered about 1.74 million of the 1.8 million doses received at Northern California facilities, with about 389,000 future appointments scheduled.
Dignity Health’s Mercy Medical Group has begun using My Turn to schedule appointments, and is working with the state and other partners to offer vaccines to eligible Californians.
This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 10:39 AM.
