Constrained Supply Leads to Sparse Turnout at South Bay COVID-19 Vaccination Sites
SAN JOSE (KPIX) -- Public health officials in Santa Clara County say a significant shortage of the vaccine has throttled and threatened to stall their efforts to battle the virus.
"We're very interested in getting the vaccine but now, with this situation, it's too hard to get an appointment," said Yadeel Lopez about her difficulty obtaining a vaccination appointment.
The number of people receiving vaccine at once-busy sites like Emmanuel Baptist Church and Berger Avenue nosedived over the past week — down 70 to 90 percent.
"Clearly, most of the vaccinations that we're doing are second doses," said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib who's in charge of vaccinations for the county. "The appointment schedules are closed for most of our sites because we can't open them up to first doses yet."
Public health officials in Santa Clara County aggressively expanded access to the vaccine during the initial rollout, confident that an increasing supply would enable them to administer the prescribed second dose.
But, when the county received fewer doses than anticipated last week, it pushed a strained system to the breaking point.
"The last thing we want to do -- and it's happened -- we've had to pause new appointments and that's of huge concern to us," said Santa Clara County supervisor Cindy Chavez. "More importantly, for elders who are getting their second dose to get a phone call saying, 'You can't come in, we're postponing your second appointment' is just unacceptable."
The county is calling on the governor and state to provide them with more doses of the vaccine. Supervisor Chavez said an insufficient and inconsistent supply of the vaccine threatens to derail the progress they've made.