Vaccination clinics hosted

Doses not yet available to the general public

Mendocino County has begun hosting “Vaccination Clinics” to administer doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to local frontline healthcare workers, county officials reported.

According to a Wednesday press release, the first clinic was hosted at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds on Dec. 22 in an area separated from where the Optumserve testing site is located. That day, officials expected to give 60 people their first dose of the vaccine, but “because some vials of the vaccine contain extra medicine,” 77 people ended up being vaccinated at the first clinic.

Another clinic was held on Dec. 30 that reportedly “vaccinated more than 100 people, and it was anticipated Wednesday that another 80 individuals would be vaccinated on Dec. 31.”

So far, the county has received one box of 975 Pfizer doses (the week of Dec. 17) and one box of 400 Moderna doses. Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren previously reported that the county would not be receiving another box of Pfizer doses last week, but would be receiving another box every week starting this week. However, county Public Information Officer Chris Pugh reported Wednesday that the county had not yet received a second box of Pfizer doses.

Of the first box of Pfizer vaccines, “300 doses were provided to Adventist Health, 60 doses went to Redwood Coast Medical Services, 40 doses went to Anderson Valley Health Clinic, 25 doses went to Mendocino Coast Clinic.”

Pugh said that “approximately 120 (vaccinations) were scheduled for Dec. 31,” then there will be a clinic Monday afternoon, and allday Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

“Our goal is to vaccinate a very substantial number of county residents within the next six months,” Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren is quoted as saying. “In order to determine who receives the first round of vaccines, we continue to follow rigorous directives from the (Centers for Disease Control) and the California Department of Public Health.

The press release also states that Nash Gonzalez, the county’s Vaccine Coordinator, notes that “the number of people vaccinated on a weekly basis will continue to increase. But, the number of vaccinations available to county residents is completely dependent on the allocations of vaccine received by the county.”

And so far, county officials report, only “about 11 million of the promised 20 million doses” had been distributed nationwide.

Gonzalez said that vaccinations will expand to “residents and staff of longterm care facilities, who will be receiving their vaccines through commercial pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens. On Jan. 7, the contract with pharmacies will begin, but again, no one can anticipate when vaccines will arrive, or how much vaccine will arrive. Staff who work in skilled nursing facilities will be vaccinated by the county, and residents of skilled nursing facilities will be vaccinated through arrangements with the pharmacies.”

Mendocino County Chief Executive Officer Carmel Angelo also noted that the county has received the first of two freezers it ordered that are capable of keeping the Pfizer vaccines at the required ultra-low temperatures. Previously, the doses were being stored in freezers at Adventist Health hospital facilities.

County officials also reported that its “Call Center will provide residents more detailed answers to specific questions regarding their place in the ‘vaccine line’ as soon as updates from CDC and the California Department of Public Health have been distributed.” The Call Center is staffed from 8:30 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at (707) 472-2759.

On the dashboard of Covid-19 data released Wednesday, county officials reported 46 new cases, with a total of 12 people hospitalized and three in the Intensive Care Unit. When asked if the county will begin adding vaccination numbers to the dashboard to regularly update the public how many doses have been administered, Pugh said that “plans are in place to create a vaccination dashboard at some point, but I don’t know when that will happen.”

When asked how many healthcare workers total are in Mendocino County, Pugh said he had not been provided that number.