Vaccine updates: Walk-ins welcome as Rite Aid expands COVID shots to all stores
As April comes to an end, three-fifths of California adults are now at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, state health officials reported Friday.
About 12.45 million people in the state have now been fully vaccinated with either one dose of Johnson & Johnson or two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, the California Department of Public Health reported in a daily update. Another 6.3 million are partially vaccinated with one dose of Pfizer or Moderna, according to CDPH.
That equates to 47% of California’s roughly 40 million total residents with at least one dose, and 60% for the state’s roughly 31 million adults. About 40% of California adults are fully vaccinated. J&J and Moderna are authorized only for ages 18 and older, while Pfizer is cleared for ages 16 and older.
Providers statewide have now administered 29,846,479 total vaccine doses, about 79% of the nearly 38 million that have been delivered to the state, according to CDPH.
Pharmacy chain Rite Aid, which operates in 17 states, announced Friday that it is now offering COVID-19 vaccine appointments at all of its U.S. locations as part of the federal government’s retail partnership program; appointments had previously been available only at select Rite Aid locations.
Rite Aid, which has more than 500 stores in California, said no appointment would be necessary in some cases, allowing consumers to walk in and get the jab. But the company recommended making an appointment to ensure availability and avoid waiting in line.
How many are fully, partially vaccinated in Sacramento area?
These are the totals for combined first and second doses, administered through Thursday, as reported by the state public health department, by recipient county of residence.
▪ Sacramento: 1,034,558 (65,981 doses per 100,000 residents)
▪ El Dorado: 131,179 (67,934 doses per 100,000)
▪ Placer: 301,196 (75,217 doses per 100,000)
▪ Yolo: 174,956 (78,241 doses per 100,000)
Here is what percentage of each county’s total population is fully and partially vaccinated, according to CDPH data.
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.
There have also been numerous 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 had 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.
A drive-thru site that had been set up at the Red Hawk Casino parking structure had its final clinic on Thursday, county officials said.
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 said.
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 only two first-dose clinics this week, one Wednesday and another Thursday. Each offered 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 has planned 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 held a public clinic Thursday offering both Pfizer and J&J, with additional clinics planned Friday and Sunday, and appointments not required for any of them.
The county will give shots 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. Both clinics are drive-thrus, available for residents 16 and older.
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 in an emailed statement Wednesday said it is receiving increased vaccine supply and is “scheduling thousands of vaccination appointments throughout Northern California.”
Sutter Health says it has administered more than 660,000 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 says the provider is not currently using J&J.
Kaiser Permanente is vaccinating patients in eligible groups, regardless of Kaiser membership.
Kaiser Permanente said in an update this week that it had administered about 1.9 million of the 1.92 million doses received at Northern California facilities, with close to 300,000 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 30, 2021 at 11:52 AM.
