I write with news of our continued progress as our overall vaccination rate for San Mateo County as of 6/30/21 was 86.6% (576,674 people compared to our estimated population of 666,252 ages 12+ ), which is among the highest in the state.

You may have read in the San Francisco Chronicle that we have been experiencing an uptick in cases in the state as well as in our region. Though San Mateo County was mentioned in the article as having a decrease, we are one ecosystem with the same dynamics in play, and our on-the-ground experience is that we have a steady flow of positive cases – 22 new cases since yesterday, people requiring hospitalization (7 today) and supports to quarantine and isolate (6 in hotel rooms) – and that the majority of these are members of our remaining unvaccinated population ages 12+.

Our best public health strategy, which is now happily a proven strategy, is to stay the course on getting the vaccine out to every eligible resident of this county. We are demonstrating day by day that patient and persistent local strategies working with partners are making a difference, and we see the vaccination percentages increasing accordingly. 

In that vein, thank you all for helping to get the word out about our new, flexible, tailored approach to meeting the needs of even relatively small groups of residents who have not yet been vaccinated. We are thrilled that 15 organizations have already participated, and we invite more partners to complete this simple form on our website to request a pop-up vaccination clinic for at least 25 participants. 

Our team would love two weeks’ notice for these pop-ups. We are prioritizing the requests that are most targeted to the populations for whom the reach of the vaccine has been lowest. In addition to focusing on geographic accessibility, we particularly want to continue to increase vaccination rates among our communities of color that are experiencing rates lower than the county overall.

The largest single group to reach is our Hispanic community who number 175,218 residents and have been vaccinated at a rate of 49.6% (86,934), meaning we have approximately 88,284 still to reach. We also strive to increase the percentage of our Black population, who number 17,006 and have been vaccinated at a rate of 56.8% (9,667), meaning we have approximately 7,339 still to reach; and our Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander population, who number 9,581 and have been vaccinated at a rate of 57% (5,462), meaning we still have to reach 4,119 residents.

Please consider whom you might forward this invitation to who could get the word out about these tailored vaccination pop-up events.

All Together Better,

Louise