San Mateo County Attempts To Close Vaccination Gaps

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County is nearing vaccinating half of its eligible residents as those age 50 and older can start receiving shots on Thursday.

In a news release on Wednesday, county health officials said that 44 percent of its residents over the age of 16, or nearly 284,000 residents, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of those who have received shots, 135,000 people are fully vaccinated.

The county had announced earlier this month a plan to shift away from mass vaccinations and focus on smaller clinics to serve communities in need. As of Mar. 25, a third of eligible residents over 16 in the most vulnerable communities had been vaccinated, which still trailed the county’s overall vaccination rate of 44 percent.

But county health officials said that the gap is closing. Over 1,000 farmworkers along the coast will be fully vaccinated in a couple of weeks, and the county has offered vaccines to all shelter programs housing the homeless. Officials expect to reach approximately 1,500 homeless individuals in the next few weeks.

“We continue to place a strong focus on equity,” said Louise Rogers, the chief of San Mateo County Health, in a news release. “That means getting the vaccine directly to those communities that face the greatest challenges and the greatest barriers in accessing vaccination sites.”

Nearly all of the county’s 15,000 education workers have been vaccinated, according to the county.

“This has been a trying year for most of us and a tragic year for many of us,” County Manager Mike Callagy said in a news release. “We have lost 547 of our friends and neighbors and loved ones in San Mateo County due to COVID-19. The faster we can help more people get vaccinated, the faster we can all end this pandemic.”

For more news and information about the vaccine rollout in California, visit Patch's information hub. Also, be sure to check out How To Get The Coronavirus Vaccine In California.