Push For COVID Boosters Creating New Demand for Vaccines
VALLEJO (KPIX 5) -- It looks like the wait for vaccine booster shots is ending, at least in one respect. State health officials are now encouraging boosters for all adults, and that's causing yet another vaccine rush.
"I was looking forward to getting it and I got my email from Kaiser to come get it," said Paula McDonald of Vallejo. "So I'm here."
It was a busy day Thursday at the Solano County Fairgrounds, and the lines were being driven largely by people who were waiting for just the right moment.
"I just wanted to wait until the hospital workers get theirs first, all the immunocompromised," said Michelle Alderete. "I just kind of waited until it was my turn to get it. So I'm getting the booster today."
And that seemed to be the concern among a lot of would-be booster recipients: the fear that they might somehow be stepping out of turn.
"Push grandma down and out of the way to take her place," joked UCSF Epidemiologist George Rutherford, MD. "No, I think there's plenty of vaccine to go around. I got a note from someone today that actually said how hard it was to find boosters and how difficult it was to find places. And they have to go farther and farther afield to get it."
The prevailing school of thought is that eligibility guidelines were only creating confusion, and if the goal is to get more people protected …
"If we can make it easier, let's make it easier," said Rutherford. "Let's get the availability out there and let's do it."
So the booster wave is here, and it's right on top of the pediatric push as well. That's why a lot of vaccine venues are now seeing a lot more traffic.
"I think people just didn't know when their turn was up," says Ben Gammon with Solano County EMS. "Yesterday we shot over 1,600 vaccines. 211 of those were ages 5 to 11. So we're starting to see that increase, not just in pediatric, but the boosters themselves."
