Marin Vaccination Partnership Targets County’s Most Vulnerable

MARIN COUNTY, CA — A newly formed partnership aims to help bring the coronavirus vaccine to Marin County’s most vulnerable.

Marin County Public Health has joined forces with Ritter Center, a San Rafael-based federally qualified health center, to help deliver COVID-19 vaccine doses to underserved communities in Marin, county officials said Monday.

The partnership comes amid an anticipated boost the county’s vaccination supply from the federal government.

The county has until this week received its vaccination supply from the state, county officials said.

The Ritter Center will help deliver COVID-19 vaccine doses to underserved communities in Marin, using a vaccine allocation from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the primary federal agency for improving health care to people who are geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable.

The partnership aims to bring vaccines to residents of public or low-income housing, the homeless population, migratory or agricultural workers, those with limited English proficiency, and people who receive medical care from a local community clinic, among others.

Those receiving benefits such as those provided Medi-Cal, CalWORKs (TANF), CalFresh (SNAP), Women, Infant and Children Services (WIC) or the National School Lunch Program, and those who live in areas defined by the Healthy place index (parts of downtown Novato and San Rafael, and the Santa Venetia, Los Ranchitos, and Las Gallinas areas in northern San Rafael) will also be eligible.

“The Ritter Center has always been a small but mighty partner in keeping our most vulnerable residents healthy,” Marin County Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said in a statement.

“Its role in the vaccine plan has been so impactful. The staff there has really stepped forward to make sure all residents, even those who are hardest to reach, have access to the vaccine.”

Anyone who lives or works in Marin County is encouraged to make an appointment online at GetVaccinatedMarin.org.

Learn more about the COVID-19 response on the Marin County Public Health website or the Ritter Center website.