With everyone age 16+ now eligible to be vaccinated in San Mateo County, we are excited to be able to connect residents to all available pathways in and around where they live, work or study. 

We remain eager to receive enough vaccine supply to again offer a high volume drive-through vaccination clinic at either the San Mateo County Event Center or SFO Long Term Parking Garage soon. We received great news last night that we have been approved for a direct federal supply of vaccine as a result of San Mateo Medical Center clinics’ status as Federally Qualified Health Centers. Ravenswood Family Health Center and Northeast Medical Center also have this FQHC status and receive direct supply. This approval promises to bolster our supply by approximately 10,000 doses commencing next week and should enable us to re-activate mass vaccination sites soon while we also continue targeted efforts in our most impacted communities.

The State’s Immunization Registry data as of April 21st shows that 416,367 San Mateo County residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, representing 64.8% of the population age 16+. Those vaccinated are 53.2% people of color, 38.8% white, and 8% unknown race/ethnicity. Among older adults, the collective vaccination efforts have reached more than 87.5% of residents age 65+. We know that some of our elders who have not been reached live in the communities that have been hardest hit by the virus so we continue to prioritize outreach to the residents who are our patients and may be able to be vaccinated at one our SMMC clinics as well as those who could be reached by our locally targeted vaccine clinics. Our San Mateo Medical Center team has now at least partially vaccinated 41% of their patients. Just over half 52.4% of eligible adult residents of our lowest quartile Healthy Places Index census tracts have received vaccinations. We also are continuing to reach those who are home-bound or have significant mobility barriers, having reached 52% or 1,119 of the 2,135 residents who have self-identified as home- or bed-bound.

We have seen a steady uptick in the role that pharmacies are playing in the vaccination rollout in San Mateo County, as there are now 40 pharmacies participating and supplied directly by the federal government. Collectively, pharmacies have provided at least 106,692 doses or 25.6% of the vaccination rollout so far.

We are encouraged by projections of increased vaccine supply to California that Blue Shield of California is directing, with modeling lining up with federal officials’ hopefulness that all residents will be offered vaccines before the July 4th holiday, with many residents likely to be able complete their vaccination in the summer. We also continue to learn and adapt to the many technology changes that we and our residents are adjusting to with the goal of streamlining the pathways for vaccination. By next week, we will have onboarded into the State’s My Turn platform, which is designed to make vaccine hunting easier and more visible for everyone.

Thank you for all the ways you are supporting our collective successes.

Regards,

Louise