California booster rate falls below 40% in most counties
Hospitals are at capacity. COVID-19 infections are at record highs. Testing lines stretch for hours. Yet even as the omicron variant batters the state, only 38% of vaccinated Californians have gotten a booster shot.
As with initial vaccinations, acceptance of the booster shot has varied throughout California: Counties in the far north and rural areas continue to see lower numbers, with as few as 23% of vaccinated people getting a booster in Mariposa, Colusa and Merced counties, according to a CalMatters analysis of state data.
The Bay Area boasts the highest rate, at 55%, and only three counties have more than half of their vaccinated population boosted: San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo. In 19 California counties, less than a third of eligible residents are boosted.
In Imperial County — the border community that led the state in vaccination rates last spring after it was hit hard by the virus — only a quarter of eligible residents have gotten a booster shot. The health officer there blames “pandemic fatigue.”
“I do think there’s been some fatigue after nearly two years of this pandemic, not just in Imperial County, but everywhere,” said Health Officer Dr. Stephen Munday. “People want to get back to their normal lives. They want to go to work, they want to take care of their families. It’s kind of like, well, gosh, I got my two doses, why do I have to get another one?”
It’s not just people in rural counties where a majority of people have refused so far to get the extra shot: Los Angeles, Kern and Santa Barbara and 28 other counties have lower booster rates than the 38% statewide average. Major population centers such as San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside are lagging behind.
State and federal recommendations for booster shots have changed several times, making them difficult for the public to follow. Current guidance advises a booster for all adults, while children as young as 12 can only get an additional Pfizer shot. Immunocompromised children as young as 5 are also eligible for another
Pfizer dose.
“Rather than doing clinics with hundreds, we have clinics through MyTurn that are booked out with 30 to 100 people at our scheduled clinics on Tuesdays and Thursday,” Sergienko said.
Cases and hospitalizations in Mariposa County have trended younger with a majority of cases occurring among those ages 2040 and a majority of hospitalizations among unvaccinated people ages 40 to 55, department spokeswoman Lizz Darcy said.
The statewide surge in infections and hospitalizations is expected to peak during the third week of January, experts say. Hospitalizations remain substantially below pre-vaccine levels.
Community organizations and health centers, which have been at the forefront of vaccine education and distribution, say interest in the booster has increased during this current surge.
“It seems our community is much more receptive to receiving the booster than they were originally to get the first dose,” said Bryant Macias, emergency relief supervisor at the United Farmworkers Foundation, which has advocated for priority doses for farmworkers and helped organize clinics.
“The main challenges we have identified are individuals not knowing how long they need to wait before getting the booster shot, whether or not they can get a booster that is different from their initial vaccine, and some folks only wanting the booster if it’s the same kind as their initial dose.”
In agricultural counties, like those in the Central Valley, workplace vaccine clinics played an important role in increasing access last spring. Those events for boosters may not be as visible yet because it’s the off season for many crops. But they’re in the plans, said Irene de Barraicua, director of operations with Lideres Campesinas, a nonprofit network of farm workers based in Oxnard.
“We’ve heard from counties and workgroups that are enthusiastic about continuing these efforts,” she said.