20% of Acults Fully vaccinatec
40% have had one dose of COVID-19 vaccine
More than 40 percent of the adult population in Mendocino County has had at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, and nearly 20 percent are fully vaccinated, county health officials reported on Friday.
“More than 40 percent of Mendocino County adults have had at least one dose, and 19.6 have had a complete series,” Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren reported, adding that statewide, only 25 percent of the eligible population has had at least one shot.
City of Ukiah officials last week described the county’s supply of Covid-19 vaccines as “coming in a little slower than anticipated, so for the next two weeks, the county will be focusing on second-dose allocations,” but Coren described the vaccine supply as “stable,” and added that his understanding is that “after next week, we should be seeing a significant increase in the amount of vaccines that are available” from all three companies producing them.
“We did receive some doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines last week, and are directing those shots toward homeless, incarcerated and hard-to-reach people” because it is easier to distribute, given that it requires only one shot to fully vaccinate and is much easier to store. He added that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “is not restricted (to those populations), but we’re trying to use it intelligently because of its logistical advantages.”
“This week we are beginning to open vaccine eligibility to construction workers in Mendocino County, because the fires we have suffered have made construction an essential activity for our recovery,” said Coren, urging all who are currently eligible due to age,
occupation or health status to seek an appointment.
Sign up for an appointment at https://myturn. ca.gov/, or call 833-4224255. Residents can also schedule an appointment through the county at 707472-2633, or call North Coast Opportunities at 707467-3239, or send “ncovax” via text to 707-209-7161.
When asked Friday how he would address any “vaccine hesitancy” that remains among people, Coren said that “vaccine hesitancy is a problem for all vaccines, but certainly with a new vaccine, there’s been a lot more reasons for people to be hesitant. I think now that there are more and more people in the community that are getting the vaccine… more people will sign on to get it.
“We have seen a significant hesitancy among
healthcare workers,” Coren continued. “And as a consequence, we have seen some problems in healthcare institutions, and outbreaks as a result of that, and we hope that there will be more people signing on to get vaccines in that group.”
As of Saturday, there have been 46 deaths from the virus in the county, with Coren describing the two most recent as an “89-yearold Caucasian man from Fort Bragg who recently passed away, and in the past
week, a 57-year-old woman who had multiple co-morbidities, which she probably passed away from at (Howard) Memorial Hospital, but she also had Covid-19 as a co-morbidity.”
The Covid-19 dashboard the county published Friday listed the total number of cases as 3,906 as of March 19, with two patients hospitalized, one of whom was in the Intensive Care Unit. There were also 41 people in isolation, and 104 under quarantine.