Placer County COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Roseville to close as demand, supply drop
Credited in the early months of the rollout by local officials as a smooth and centralized operation, the COVID-19 vaccine clinic at The Grounds in Roseville is “demobilizing” and will hold just a few more dates over the next two weeks before closing down, Placer County health officials recently said.
The Grounds clinic, at the former county fairgrounds, has four dates set to offer the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine along with two “make-up” clinics for those needing second doses of Pfizer. The last of each is May 25. Further details on dates and times are available via California’s MyTurn website.
In a detailed monthly COVID-19 report released last Friday, the local health office said the county’s direct allocation of vaccine supply has dropped dramatically: Placer got only about 2,300 doses the last week of April, down from 4,900 the previous week. In late March, the local health office was getting about 9,000 doses a week.
The report says the recent decreases are likely due to two factors: the state’s prioritization of more doses in ZIP codes within the bottom quartile of California’s “Healthy Places Index,” of which Placer has none; and the fact that Placer County residents are, on average, about five years older than the average Californian.
The county says the age factor may have led to higher allocations in the early stages of the rollout, but lower ones in the later stages as younger populations become eligible. California made all residents 16 and older eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine starting April 15.
Because of the low allocations, Placer says it is “unable to continue mass vaccination at the same scale of the past few months.”
However, the county also acknowledges “plateauing” demand and says it is confident that other vaccine providers will be able to handle local needs.
“Healthcare systems, pharmacies and smaller clinics alike continue to request thousands of additional doses from the county each week beyond what the state is providing, illustrating their continued ample capacity for administration — and with demand plateauing in the last few weeks, the county’s clinic is increasingly causing these providers to compete for patients, as well,” the report says.
The county says it expects that mass clinics from Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente, plus pharmacy partners, “will be able to meet the needs of the bulk of county residents while (county health officials) refocus efforts on targeted populations that may have more challenges accessing appointments.”
The shift in strategy is in line with changes announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month. The governor’s office said the state will look to ease away from mass vaccination sites and toward smaller, community-based efforts, investing $33 million toward community-based organizations that support vaccination efforts and combating hesitancy.
