One in every four Sonoma County residents 16 years of age and older are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the result of a coordinated multi-agency effort over the past three months. More than 282,000 vaccine doses have been administered to Sonoma County residents so far.
As of today, at least one dose of vaccine has been administered to 183,173 Sonoma County residents — 45 percent of the population 16 years of age or older. Meanwhile, 105,752 residents are now fully vaccinated. In total, the County has administered 282,785 vaccines to County residents (138,393 Moderna, 138,252 Pfizer and 6,140 Johnson & Johnson).
In addition, County health officials announced that for the first time since April 2020, there have been no new COVID-19 cases among residents in Sonoma County senior residential facilities for nearly three weeks and there have been no deaths among residents since Feb. 16, 2021. In addition, there has been only one staff member test positive during that same time. Overall, the positivity rate in adults 75+ is now close to zero, health officials said.
“Today marks an important community milestone in Sonoma County’s battle against COVID-19,” said Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “We are very grateful for the partnerships with our local health care providers that have enabled all of us to reach this point. The good news is we have the capacity to administer far more doses each day. We are eager to do that. We are just hoping to see our vaccine supply increase soon. There’s still more work to do, and we all still need to be safe, but we are gaining the upper hand.”
When compared with the nine California counties closest in population size (five with higher populations and four with smaller), Sonoma County has done more vaccinations on a per-capita basis than any of them, according to data now available from the state. (See table attached).
California averages 371 vaccines per 1,000 residents statewide, with the highest proportions found around the Bay Area and in a few small counties in the Sierra Nevada. A recent county-by-county analysis done by the Sacramento Bee shows Sonoma County averages 504 vaccines per 1,000 residents, with just Marin (601) and Napa (541) counties averaging more in the Greater Bay Area.
Vaccines are being provided locally through an extensive network of local clinics managed by local providers including federally qualified health centers. Many of the clinics and providers are being supported logistically by the County in addition to receiving vaccines from the County’s allotment. In addition, more than 100,000 of the local vaccinations have been provided by the county’s hospital partners including Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health and Providence – St. Joseph Health.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that all California residents 50 and older will be eligible for a vaccine on April 1 and all state residents 16 and older will be eligible for vaccinations starting April 15 as vaccine supply ramps up. He expects the state’s vaccine supply to increase from the current 1.8 million doses a week to 3 million doses a week by the middle of April.
In Sonoma County currently, residents ages 65 and older are eligible to get COVID-19 vaccines at designated County-supported clinics, along with those in jobs in certain sectors, including food, health care and education. Residents who are 16 and older with severe medical conditions also are eligible.
The County began its vaccination rollout three months ago by focusing on those age 75 and above as this age group comprises just 10 percent of the population but has made up nearly two-thirds of the deaths that have occurred in Sonoma County since the pandemic began. The result is that 65 percent of residents age 75 and older are fully vaccinated while nearly 80 percent of Sonoma County residents between the ages of 70 and 74 have now received at least one dose and more than 52 percent are fully vaccinated.
The County also continues to focus on getting doses to the members of our community who have been most disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
“The good news is all this progress means we are moving closer to opening our economy more and possibly moving into the orange tier. But getting an appointment is going to be a challenge for a while, even as the supply of doses slowly increases,” said Dr. Sundari Mase, Health Officer for Sonoma County.
Vaccine distribution in California and Sonoma County is still making the transition to the state’s third party administrator — Blue Shield. At some point soon, vaccine appointments will need to be made through the Myturn.ca.gov web site. County Health officials recommend that those who have not yet been vaccinated should register on the site and become familiar with how it works.
Until the transition is complete, residents can continue to use the County’s vaccination clinic list at socoemergency.org/vaccine to find an appointment.
Eligible individuals who are insured are encouraged to first seek a vaccination appointment through their primary health care provider.
For more information including the latest vaccine numbers, who’s eligible for a vaccine and how to receive a vaccine, community members are encouraged to visit SoCoEmergency.org/vaccine, or call 2-1-1.
