Vaccine updates: Sacramento demand slows, Pfizer could be available for ages 12-15 soon
California’s campaign to mass vaccinate against COVID-19 is continuing at a pace of a few hundred thousand jabs per day, as the state approaches two-thirds of its adult population with at least one dose.
The California Department of Public Health reported Monday that about 12.9 million people are now fully vaccinated, and another 6.2 are partially vaccinated with one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
That puts the total that has had at least one dose at just over 19 million, which is close to half of California’s roughly 40 million residents and about 61% of its 31 million adults.
There have been signs of demand slowing locally, even as Sacramento County’s vaccination rates trail statewide percentages. Data from CDPH on Monday showed only about 40% of Sacramento County’s population as at least partially vaccinated, compared to 47% for California as a whole.
Even so, the county on Monday announced that the drive-thru sites at Cal Expo and McClellan Park are giving first doses of Pfizer this week with no appointments required because a few thousand slots had gone unfilled.
“Vaccine sign-ups have been dropping off for a few weeks, but this is unprecedented,” county health spokeswoman Janna Haynes said.
The trend could signal a degree of vaccine hesitancy, though it is also possible demand at mass vaccination sites could dwindle as jabs become more readily available at pharmacies or health systems such as Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente.
The vaccine from Pfizer is authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for ages 16 and older, while the ones from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are cleared for those 18 and older.
Pfizer requested emergency use authorization in ages 12 through 15 early last month. ABC News reported Monday that the FDA may grant that authorization as early as this week.
Clearance for that age range would make roughly 2 million additional Californians eligible.
“We’re planning with Sacramento County as well in the event that 12-to-15-year-olds may be approved soon,” Michael Condrin, chief operating officer of ambulatory care at UC Davis Health, said in a statement Monday.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data updated Sunday, California ranks 10th among the 50 states in percentage of adults with at least one vaccine dose and is 6.5 percentage points above the national average. It’s a vast improvement from a stumbling start that saw the Golden State rank near the bottom of the U.S. in the earliest weeks of 2021.
How many are fully, partially vaccinated in Sacramento area?
These are the totals for combined first and second doses, administered through Sunday, as reported by the state public health department, by recipient county of residence.
▪ Sacramento: 1,053,874 (67,212 doses per 100,000 residents)
▪ El Dorado: 134,454 (69,630 doses per 100,000)
▪ Placer: 305,467 (76,284 doses per 100,000)
▪ Yolo: 178,380 (79,772 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.
Sacramento-area health offices, public clinics and pharmacies
Most county health offices are splitting their direct allocations among their own county-run clinics, hospitals and other partners, including some Safeway pharmacies.
Rite Aid now offers appointments at all of its pharmacies across the U.S., including its more than 500 in California. CVS and Walgreens offer vaccine appointments at select locations. 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.
Some clinics including the Cal Expo and McClellan Park sites used to require appointments in advance but are increasingly encouraging residents to show up even without an appointment as supply holds steady while 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 also has a Saturday first-dose Moderna clinic scheduled for May 22 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 last 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 as of Monday morning had just one first-dose clinic planned at The Grounds for this week, giving J&J doses on Tuesday.
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.
Appointments can also be made at Remedy RX Pharmacy in Roseville through a local partnership.
Yolo
Yolo County has planned four public and two public first-dose clinics this week, after holding three of each last week. Three of the public clinics are during evening hours.
Yolo will be offering J&J from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at La Superior in Woodland, and J&J at the Winters Community Center from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome.
The HHSA Bauer Building in Woodland will be giving J&J and first doses of Pfizer from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. No appointment is needed, but the clinic is a drive-thru only.
Holy Cross Church in West Sacramento will be giving J&J and Pfizer first doses from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
The private clinics are Wednesday and Friday at the Yolo food bank.
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 last week 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.
In an update Monday, the pvoider said it has administered more than 128,000 total doses “to patients, community members and employees” and is working to help organize clinics “that reach the medically underserved.”
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.
Travis AFB, Northern California VA locations giving vaccines
Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield announced has opened appointments to “all individuals, 18 and older” at David Grant USAF Medical Center, offering 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.
