Vaccine hunt is on for those 50-plus
California expands eligibility to millions today, but ‘the challenge is supply’ for some providers
The mad scramble is on as some 7.6 million middle-aged Californians become eligible statewide for the COVID-19 vaccine today amid conflicting signals about the availability of appointments for the shots.
As county officials, health care providers and pharmacies in many parts of the Bay Area warned of ongoing shortages and urged patience, many of those 50 and older — eager to get the shots because their age puts them at higher risk from the virus — turned to social media for tips on beating the rush. While the state said last week that it would not open appointments to the newly eligible until April 1, plenty of providers jumped the gun, handing opportunity to the resourceful.
For some like Kirt Iverson, a 51-year-old patent attorney in Santa Clara, it paid off.
“Got my appointment!!!” Iverson posted Wednesday. “Thank you everyone!!”
But Dave Cowl, 54, also of Santa Clara, was still searching for one after finding no luck through the vaccination center at Levi’s Stadium or Sutter Health.
“I will keep checking from time to time — it is what I expected given that the county said they were short of vaccine doses,” Cowl said, though with the state set to expand eligibility even further in two weeks, he worries whether he’ll get one by then. “It seems that given there is not enough vaccine for those already eligible, opening eligibility further is not going to be helpful.”
California’s vaccine rollout has been uneven and frustrating for many. And those 50 and older not already made eligible by their occupation or health conditions are worried about
beating the rush before the state opens eligibility to all adults April 15.
Though almost 3 out of 4 of California’s nearly 58,000 deaths from the virus are among those age 65 and older already eligible for vaccines, about 1 in 5 are among those 50 to 64 — younger baby boomers and older Generation Xers — who become eligible today.
California has administered at least one dose of what is often a two-shot vaccine to 78% of its residents 65 and older, more than other large populous states like Texas (70%), Florida (76%) and New York (66%), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the Golden State, and especially the Bay Area, has more residents eager for a shot than other areas, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, making it harder to meet demand. In the San Francisco metro area, 72% indicate they’ll get the shot as soon as it’s available, second only to the 74% in the Seattle area and well above the national average of 51%.
In the Bay Area, the vaccines
remain plentiful in parts of the East Bay, where Contra Costa and Solano counties have been vaccinating those 50 and older who live and work there for over a week, and Contra Costa just opened eligibility to those older than 16.
Dr. Ori Tzvieli, deputy health officer for Contra Costa County, said Wednesday his county remains confident of meeting the increased
demand from expanded eligibility.
“Our phones at our call center have been ringing off the hook,” Tzvieli said. “We have availability still, and every day a few more appointments open up.”
That’s not been the picture everywhere.
California’s MyTurn. ca.gov vaccine scheduling website on Wednesday indicated those age 50 and
older could already schedule an appointment, but around the Bay Area, it also showed none were available.
Kaiser Permanente, which covers nearly 1 in 4 Californians, emailed a discouraging note Tuesday stressing that “we haven’t received enough doses yet to vaccinate everyone who’s eligible.” The health care giant’s online vaccine scheduler
wasn’t inviting those 50 and older to sign up Wednesday and referred members to the state’s My Turn site.
Sutter Health said those 50 and older would be able to begin scheduling appointments today, though it was unclear when.
CVS Pharmacy’s online vaccine scheduler indicated appointments were booked in most cities throughout the state.
In Santa Clara County, the Levi’s Stadium mass vaccination site has often closed early for lack of supply, which county officials say has been flat for weeks. County Counsel James Williams said the county has the capacity to vaccinate 200,000 people a week. With 400,000 becoming eligible today, and with enough supply, they could be taken care of within the two weeks before eligibility opens for all April 15. But the county has been getting only 60,000 doses a week.
“We have the capacity to vaccinate all these eligible folks — everybody in our county — very quickly,” Williams said. “But the challenge is supply, and there’s not an alignment between supply and eligibility.”
Even so, for the motivated, appointments were available. Some pharmacies, like a Safeway in Morgan Hill, were offering appointments to the 50-plus set Wednesday.
Iverson said he had planned to try making an appointment at the stroke of midnight Thursday when he would officially become eligible, first through Palo Alto Medical Foundation and El Camino Hospital, where he already has patient accounts, then through local pharmacies. But tips from a Facebook group steered Iverson to a Santa Clara County health number, through which he eventually scored an appointment today in Gilroy after a few tries.
“I wanted to return to normal as soon as possible,” Iverson said, “and get everybody back to herd immunity as soon as possible.”
For others like Karen Krenis, a 57-year-old screenwriter in Santa Cruz, it wasn’t so difficult. She had signed up through My Turn and it sent her a text and email Wednesday morning telling her she was eligible so she gave it a try and got an appointment in Monterey.
“I was preparing for madness,” Krenis said, “but I signed up for an appointment for tomorrow … easy peasy.”