I am so pleased to have an additional reason to update you on our vaccine rollout progress as San Mateo County’s COVID-19 adjusted case rate was low enough for two weeks for the county to move to the least restrictive Yellow Tier, representing “minimal” risk level.

We know that each of the almost half a million residents who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are contributing to stopping the spread of the virus and its variants as we strive to achieve even greater protection across all communities.

Based on the state’s immunization registry data as of May 11th, a total of 492,145 San Mateo County residents age 16+ have received at least one dose, and a total of 819,999 vaccine doses have been administered by vaccinating entities across the county. This represents a reach of 76.6% of the 16+ population countywide. Our reach in the Health Equity Quartile communities is 64.3%. 

As you have heard in the news, we have a new group of eligible residents as federal and state bodies have approved the Pfizer vaccine’s use for residents age 12-15. For San Mateo County, this is a group of 40,152 residents. We will be including this population in our dashboards that track vaccine reach by age and race/ethnicity, as well as the other dashboards that calculate the reach of the eligible population:

• Vaccination Totals & Location Data
• Equity in Administering Vaccine
• Vaccinations in Health Equity Quartile

We are also using this opportunity to incorporate an annual demographic update that our epidemiology team receives from the California Department of Finance. This April 2021 update reflects a slightly smaller and older San Mateo County population, which translates to some changes to the percentage reach updates we share.

 As the multiple vaccine pathways that are available are now more visible and predictable through the state’s MyTurn platform, we hope that the newly eligible young people, alongside many plans for in-person learning in the fall may make it even more compelling for families to seek vaccination together. I want to appreciate the leadership and collaboration of faith leaders, such as Bishop Joe Prado, who worked with us to arrange a vaccine effort following a church service last Sunday in East Palo Alto. We continue to look for opportunities to reach people ready to be vaccinated and to make the processes easier however we can.

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm for all we have accomplished and all we still have to do.

Warmly,

Louise