Merced County will pause COVID-19 vaccination clinics due to dose shortage
The Merced County Department of Public Health announced Saturday that it will not host COVID-19 vaccination clinics next week due to a national vaccine shortage.
All available vaccine will be dedicated toward providing the second dose required to complete the vaccination series for those who already received their initial shot, according to a news release.
“Without an increased allocation, county health officials are not expecting to have enough vaccine doses for additional clinics at this time,” the department of public health stated in the release. “As soon as county health officials are able to confirm enough vaccine allocation to host additional clinics, further announcements will be made.”
Merced County reported its 350th COVID-19-related death since the start of the pandemic on Friday. There have been 26 deaths reported in the past week.. The total number of residents who have been infected with the virus since the start of the pandemic is 26,230.
Earlier this week, Merced County health officials voiced their frustration with the state vaccine rollout.
Dr. Rebecca Nanyonjo-Kemp, Merced County’s public health director, said the vaccination process has been frustrating and demoralizing, and marks a sad start to the new year.
“Merced County has received the third lowest amount of vaccines per resident,” Nanyonjo-Kemp told supervisors. “There’s not enough for everyone based on what we’ve received.”
Nearly 11,000 fully vaccinated
A total of 10,775 Phase 1A residents were fully vaccinated as of Jan. 25, according to County Public Health’s numbers. That includes healthcare workers, vulnerable populations such as skilled nursing facility residents and individuals age 65 or older.
Merced County has a population of 287, 420.
Merced County continues to receive the second worst per capita vaccine allocation in the state, according to the Merced County Department of Public Health in its announcement Saturday.
“Merced County has the proper infrastructure, technology and communications in place to efficiently distribute the vaccine in large volumes,” the department of public health stated in the release.
The department says thousands of residents are signed up to receive notification of appointments once doses of the vaccine are available.
Help sought from federal, state lawmakers
Merced County and city officials within the county have advocated for a greater local allocation of the vaccine.
“The county is working closely with Congressman (Jim) Costa, Senator (Anna) Caballero and Assemblyman (Adam) Gray to correct this inequity by securing a greater number of vaccine doses,” said Daron McDaniel, chairman of the Merced County Board of Supervisors. “I’m confident that we’ll be successful in making this happen, and we will not relent until it does.”
Without an increased allocation, county health officials are not expecting to have enough vaccine doses for additional clinics at this time, according to the release. As soon as county health officials are able to confirm enough vaccine allocation to host additional clinics, further announcements will be made.
Those interested can sign-up at www.vaccinatemercedcounty.com to be notified of future appointment options. Those without computers can call 209-381-1180 to request an appointment.
This story was originally published January 30, 2021 at 4:04 PM.
