At this time, the county can only accommodate health care workers and people 75 years of age or older.
Demand for COVID-19 vaccine far exceeds the amount available.
And, in the largest county in the Bay Area, officials say the federal government continues to hinder them.
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“We learned a few days ago, for example, that the federal government was going to release the reserves of vaccines that were kept for two doses. We learned this Friday morning that there is no stock,” said James Williams, county councilor. of Santa Clara.
Williams says transparency is essential to building public trust, but the process has been all but easy.
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“Kaiser and PAMF are responsible for most of the residents of Santa Clara County, most of our residents are their patients, but we don’t have full visibility of what they’re doing,” Williams said.
Despite the struggle, county officials are moving forward with the expansion of multiple vaccination sites, building the infrastructure in hopes that the federal government will reunite its action under a new administration.
Most residents will receive the vaccine from their primary care provider, but the county has already increased the capacity to vaccinate to 6,000 people a day with plans to do more once the supply of vaccines is more stable.
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“Because of this limited and unpredictable supply, we continue to need to limit eligibility for vaccination,” said Jennifer Tong, MD, associate medical director of SCVMC.
Hospital systems are overloaded as cases and hospitalizations increase.
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But Stanford Health Care has stepped up to help provide mutual assistance by accepting more than 500 transfers in the last two months alone.
As people eagerly await their turn to get the vaccine, medical providers are once again reminding the public of ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We know how you can protect yourself. We know that if you keep social distancing and wear a mask, you can protect yourself from this virus,” said Professor Andra Blomkalns, MD, Stanford School of Medicine.
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