For the time being, the county can only accommodate healthcare professionals and people aged 75 and over.
The demand for the COVID-19 vaccine far exceeds the quantity available.
And in the largest county in the Bay Area, officials say they continue to be harmed by the federal government.
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“We learned a few days ago, for example, that the federal government would release stocks of vaccines that were being maintained for second doses. We learned this morning (Friday) that there is no stock,” said James Williams, Santa Clara County Counselor .
Williams says transparency is essential to building public trust, but the process has been anything but easy.
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“Kaiser and PAMF are responsible for the majority of Santa Clara County residents, the majority of our residents are their patients, but we do not have full visibility of what they are doing,” said Williams.
Despite the struggle, county officials are moving forward with the expansion of several vaccination sites, building the infrastructure in the hope that the federal government will begin to act under a new administration.
Most residents will receive the vaccine from their primary care provider, but the county has already increased its capacity to vaccinate up to 6,000 people a day with plans to do more once the vaccine supply becomes more stable.
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“Due to this limited and unpredictable supply, we continue to need to limit eligibility for vaccination,” said Jennifer Tong, MD, Associate Medical Director at SCVMC.
Hospital systems are overburdened as the case and hospitalizations increase.
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But Stanford Health Care has stepped up to help provide mutual aid, accepting more than 500 transfers in the past two months alone.
As people eagerly await the vaccine’s turn, doctors 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 maintain social distance and wear a mask, you will be able to protect yourself from this virus,” said Professor Andra Blomkalns, a doctor at Stanford School of Medicine.
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