COVID Vaccine: Locals Learn Of New Rohnert Park Clinic By Word Of Mouth
ROHNERT PARK (KPIX 5) -- The vaccine rollout has been very different in every Bay Area county. On Wednesday, some Sonoma County residents said they got their vaccine appointments through word of mouth.
Sonoma County's newest coronavirus vaccination clinic opened Wednesday at the Rohnert Park Community Center. It is a new kind of clinic that is part of an experiment being conducted by state officials. Hundreds of people turned out on opening day.
"My wife picked it up through a friend of hers," said Bill Caps, moments after receiving his first dose of vaccine. "Just heard about it, yeah."
Some of those who stood in line made their appointments barely a day beforehand. Word-of-mouth seems to have been the most common referral.
"Some of the other people in line got word from their in-home support workers," said Anne Gilbert. "Which is, in a lot of ways, word-of-mouth."
That's because the clinic itself was a last-minute arrangement. It was made possible by a state supply of vaccine and a medical resource company that pulled together the nursing staff.
Rohnert Park was more than happy to host the experiment.
"On the weekend, this deal was formalized. And here we are a couple days, later up and rolling," said Rohnert Park Mayor Gerard Giudice. "I think that speaks to our ability to pivot."
It also speaks to the improvisational nature of California's vaccine rollout. The company running this clinic normally does testing. They were literally timing shots on Wednesday to get a better feel for how quickly they can move.
Administering the vaccine at a larger scale will require more people to deliver more shots, so the county is now looking for volunteers.
"We are recruiting a corps of people who are licensed, or have been licensed to do this kind of work," said Sonoma County Supervisor Chris Coursey.
It is all a work in progress, learning as they go. But this operation is up and running and will stay open indefinitely.
"I'm just relieved that we could start this roll out," Giudice said. "Let's get these shots in arms."
Right now, they can vaccinate about 400 people a day at this clinic. Significantly increasing that number will require greater supplies of vaccine.