Coronavirus vaccinations are underway in SLO County. How many people received doses?
San Luis Obispo County’s coronavirus vaccination process is underway.
Health care workers, skilled nursing facility residents and people age 75 and older are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations and have begun receiving shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
As of Jan. 15, the latest data available, the county Public Health Department administered more than 60% of its first dose vaccines.
According to RecoverSLO.org, the county Public Health Department had received 17,010 total vaccines by Jan. 15. Of those vaccines, 9,925 were designated as first doses and 7,085 were designated second doses.
As of Jan. 15, 6,266 first doses were administered to people from around the county — 1,060 of whom had received their second doses of COVID-19 vaccines by Friday.
In other words, about 17% of the people who have been vaccinated by the county Public Health Department have had both their first and second vaccines, inching the county one step closer to coronavirus immunity.
The county said this information only reflects the number of doses sent to and administered by the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department.
According to the county, the Public Health Department is only given a five- to six-day notice about how many vaccines it will receive the following week.
The week of Jan. 11 to Jan. 15, the county received 5,375 second-dose vaccines and no first-dose vaccines.
It was unclear as of Wednesday afternoon whether that total included the more than 4,000 second-dose Moderna vaccines that are not to be used because they’ve caused increased allergic reactions.
According to a news release, the county Public Health Department received 4,400 doses of a specific lot of Moderna vaccine that has been tied to a “higher-than-usual number of adverse events” at a California clinic.
Other vaccine partners, including Dignity Health, Tenet Health Central Coast and chain pharmacies such as CVS, have been provided additional vaccine to administer. The county said they do not have data on how many people have received vaccines from those organizations.
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department said it will update RecoverSLO.org with new vaccination data once a week.
How to schedule a coronavirus vaccine appointment
As of Wednesday, the county Public Health Department was distributing vaccines at the Public Health Department headquarters in San Luis Obispo and in the Ponderosa Pavillion at the Paso Robles Event Center, home to the California Mid-State Fair.
County public information officer Michelle Shoresman said Tuesday that the county is hoping to open up a third site soon in South County and potentially transition the San Luis Obispo site to a larger location.
Once all three sites are up and running, the county would be able to distribute 3,000 vaccines a day. However, limited supplies have drastically decreased the county’s ability to vaccinate more quickly.
As of Wednesday, the county Public Health Department is administering coronavirus vaccines to people in Phase 1A and Phase 1B by appointment only.
To schedule an appointment, visit RecoverSLO.org or call 805-543-2444.
Appointment schedules for the following week will be released every Thursday on RecoverSLO.org and via county email alerts.
To sign up for email alerts visit EmergencySLO.org/en/newsletter.aspx.
This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 2:07 PM.
