COVID vaccine updates: Yolo County begins clinics for those 75-plus with no insurance
California is weeks into a mass vaccination campaign to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, administering tens of thousands of shots a day.
The California Department of Public Health on its vaccine tracker reported Monday that providers have administered 3,523,111 out of about 5.67 million doses that have been distributed to hospital systems and local health offices, an increase of 88,816 administered doses since Sunday’s update. That’s the smallest single-day increase reported in the past week.
The CDPH numbers are raw totals without distinction between first and second doses. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data updated Monday, about 83% of California’s shots given have been first doses: over 2.86 million.
Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines are taken three weeks and four weeks apart, respectively.
The CDC on its tracking dashboard reported that California through Sunday had administered 8,740 doses for every 100,000 residents, which ranked 13th lowest among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. The total reported by CDPH is slightly higher, about 8,779 per 100,000.
California is launching a program called “My Turn” that will let Californians sign up for text or email alerts to notify that they are eligible to get the vaccine. Many major private health providers also offer similar services through their patient websites, and are also proactively contacting patients who are eligible.
Counties are expanding via public clinics. Yolo County this week is holding five daily clinics for residents ages 75 and up who do not have health insurance.
Here is the latest on vaccine distribution in the Sacramento area.
How many doses have been given across Sacramento area?
These are the totals for combined first and second doses, administered through Sunday, as reported by CDPH, by recipient county of residence.
▪ Sacramento: 114,964 (7,332 doses per 100,000 residents)
▪ El Dorado: 16,382 (8,484 doses per 100,000)
▪ Placer: 44,430 (11,095 doses per 100,000)
▪ Yolo: 18,694 (8,360 doses per 100,000)
It is unclear how many residents of each county have been vaccinated, because neither CDPH nor individual counties in the Sacramento area have given comprehensive figures for first doses vs. second doses among residents.
Placer County continues to fare best in the immediate capital region and ranks No. 4 among California’s 58 counties in doses given per 100,000 residents, behind Napa, Marin and Butte.
Sacramento County’s vaccine doses per 100,000 residents were about 17% below the statewide average as of Monday’s update, ranking it 31st out of 50 counties for which full data were available. (Figures weren’t available for California’s eight counties with fewer than 20,000 residents.)
The numbers from the CDPH dashboard suggest significant regional differences. Of the 15 counties with a higher rate of doses per capita than the statewide average, nine are in the Bay Area, two in “Greater Sacramento,” two in the North State and only one in each of the San Joaquin Valley (Tuolumne County) and Southern California (San Diego County).
It is unclear to what extent reporting delays play a factor in the regional and county-to-county differences.
Local health offices: Yolo opens clinics for uninsured 75-plus
Local health departments in the capital region are receiving several thousand doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on a weekly basis, according to each county.
Counties in which multi-county hospital systems, such as Kaiser Permanente or Sutter Health, have little or no presence may be receiving larger direct allocations relative to their populations, which are then distributed to hospital systems that only operate in a single county.
Most county health offices are splitting their direct allocations between their own county-run clinics, non-chain hospitals and other partners, including some Safeway pharmacies.
Sacramento
▪ Phase: 1A (front-line health workers; long-term care residents)
▪ Received directly: 16,350 doses, last updated Jan. 14.
▪ Administered: 15,115 doses (92% of received).
Sacramento County health officials say the county is slated to get 15,000 doses this week. Some of those 15,000 will be used at the vaccination center at Cal Expo, while others will be sent to partnering health clinics and pharmacies.
El Dorado
▪ Phase: 1A and 1B (adults 65 and older; essential workers in some sectors).
▪ Received: 19,875 doses, as of Friday.
▪ Administered: Not reported.
Placer
▪ Phase: 1A; 1B in “limited supply.”
▪ Received: 14,525 first doses and 8,750 second doses, as of Jan. 8.
▪ Administered: “Nearly 10,000” total doses by county-run clinics and “about 2,500” through partnerships with Safeway pharmacies, Health and Human Services official Michael Romero estimated during a Board of Supervisors meeting last week.
Yolo
▪ Received: “Around 8,000” first doses and 4,550 second doses, county spokeswoman Jenny Tan said Monday.
▪ Administered: “About 7,000” first doses and at least 2,046 second doses, Tan said. Yolo’s vaccination webpage shows first doses at around 5,300, but Tan said data from multiple county-run clinics last week have not yet been entered into the system.
Yolo County will be hosting five clinics this week, one a day Tuesday through Saturday, for residents of Woodland, Esparto, Knights Landing, Madison, West Sacramento or nearby unincorporated areas who are ages 75 or older and who do not have health insurance.
Those interested must sign up for an appointment and must bring proof of residency and age. Sign-up links are available on the county’s vaccination webpage at www.yolocounty.org.
Below are this week’s clinics; precise times depend on appointment availability, and residents should not show up unless they have made an appointment in advance. All except Friday’s at Woodland Memorial Hospital are drive-thru clinics.
▪ Tuesday afternoon: Yolo County Health and Human Services parking lot in Woodland
▪ Wednesday afternoon: Esparto Elementary School
▪ Thursday afternoon: Knights Landing library
▪ Friday morning: Woodland Memorial Hospital
▪ Saturday, midday: Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento
Yolo says it will share more clinic dates soon.
Those requiring an in-home vaccination should call 211, the county says.
Hospital systems
Hospital systems operating in multiple counties receive their own allocations from the state.
Most of the earliest of these shots went to health workers, but priority is being expanded to patients in the priority age groups.
Dignity Health in an update Friday said vaccines are “now available for patients who have a Mercy Medical Group primary care physician and who are 65 and older.”
Mercy Medical Group says it has administered “over 1,800 vaccines so far” to patients in the Sacramento area since starting pilot clinics Jan. 11, will give 2,400 this week and plans to increase capacity to handle “3,000+ shots weekly.”
Mercy Medical Group patients ages 75 and over, and those 65 and older with high-risk medical conditions, have been given vaccines at four weekly clinics in Sacramento County: in Citrus Heights, Folsom, midtown Sacramento and Elk Grove.
The provider says it will be proactively contacting patients who meet the eligibility criteria.
Sutter Health is continuing to schedule appointments for patients age 75 or older. Sutter Health on its website says it is “prioritizing patients who are highest risk according to government guidance.”
Sutter this week is opening centers in Sacramento and Roseville. Officials are not disclosing exact locations for these sites to the general public, because they don’t want people to show up without appointments.
UC Davis Health officials recently told The Bee the system has vaccinated more than 22,000 people so far, including more than 11,000 employees and students plus more than 10,000 patients. It started vaccinations for adults ages 75 and older in mid-January.
UC Davis Health is averaging 1,000 shots a day at its main campus in Sacramento and will open a second site this week. Both are appointment-only.
On its website last week, UC Davis Health said it would begin making appointments for those ages 65 to 74 “once everyone who wants a vaccine” in the 75-and-over group has received one. The system says it will follow CDC and CDPH guidelines.
Kaiser Permanente is focusing initial inoculations on those ages 75 and older.
“State guidelines expanded to include (ages 65 to 74), but supply is still very limited,” a portion of Kaiser’s COVID-19 vaccine website reads. “As more supplies become available to meet this need, we’ll send you a letter or email with instructions for scheduling your appointment. You don’t need to contact us. We’re starting with adults 75 and older.”
Kaiser said it had vaccinated about 2.5% of its 12.4 million members as of the beginning of last week, which works out to about 310,000 members. Kaiser Permanente operates in eight states plus D.C. and is headquartered in Oakland.
The Bee’s Tony Bizjak contributed to this story.
