As Santa Clara County aims to give shots to 140,000 people at its mass vaccination sites this week, some of its smaller sites say they’re struggling to get enough customers.
After waiting four months, Steven Cordero of San Jose is headed back to work with his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in his arm. He works near this walk up clinic at the Mexican Heritage Plaza and noticed something different.
Just two weeks ago, lines were filled with people waiting for a vaccine, and on Wednesday, there were no lines.
“I would go by here every day and see the long lines and say ‘nope, now is not the time,’” he said. “But I came by today and I saw no lines.”
The site had 500 doses to give out Tuesday, but only about 400 people showed up to get a shot. The same thing happened Wednesday and other clinics are reporting a similar issue.
“We are seeing vaccine hesitancy especially at our pop-up sites where appointments are not required,” said Ricardo Romero-Morales of Santa Clara County Public Health.
Another possible factor is that the county recently received hundreds of thousands of unexpected doses from the federal government .
“We’re used to a higher volume but we’re just not seeing it this week,” said Omar Rodriguez of the Mexican Heritage Plaza. “I think it’s because the vaccine is now widely available through the county.”
But the county stresses while the clinics may not be reaching max daily capacity, no vaccines will go to waste.
As for Steven, the shift in vaccine popularity meant no waiting, plenty of places to sit after the shot and some new peace of mind during his lunch break.
“I feel relieved to finally get the shot,” said Steven.
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Source: NBC Bay Area
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