Santa Clara County residents ages 16 and up can now schedule vaccine appointments for April 15 and beyond, according to multiple reports late yesterday.
Santa Clara County Superintendent Mary Ann Dewan told news outlets yesterday that starting Thursday, residents age 16+ would be able to try and book their vaccine appointment in advance on the Santa Clara County Public Health website for April 15 and beyond, when the eligibility window opens for residents age 16 and up.
Actually getting an appointment remains elusive, however, as of this writing.
The County public health website’s COVID-19 page directs users to check eligibility via the State’s MyTurn website at myturn.ca.gov, which does not yet allow vaccination appointments for those otherwise healthy 16 and up. The County’s list of eligible groups likewise does not yet include healthy residents over 16.
Links to other sites from the Appointments section of the County’s page show a mashup of experiences. The linked sites for Kaiser, Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Stanford all do not yet include ages 16+ without underlying medical conditions among the eligible categories. In the pharmacy sector, Rite Aid and Walmart returned similar results; Walgreens indicates it follows state guidelines (versus County) and had no available appointments for the next 5 days. Costco’s linked site indicates scheduling is not available.
CVS has added a button on its vaccine appointment screening page, for ‘Individuals who are eligible according to their county’, but the onsite verification process is unclear. The site posts updated vaccine availability, with updates taking place every 15 minutes roughly during our research window.
Eligibility aside, availability continues to be an issue across the county, and the number of cases attributed to variants is causing concern. “The County and its partners are working as quickly as supply allows to vaccinate, while confirmed cases of variants of concern continue to climb,” said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, COVID-19 testing and vaccine officer for the County of Santa Clara.
As of April 7, the County reported 135 new cases and no new deaths. 41 percent of the county’s eligible population ages 16+ have been vaccinated with at least one dose. (Note these figures likely do not include the shift in eligibility over the last 24 hours).
Statewide, Governor Newsom has set a June 15 reopening target to open the economy for “business as usual” provided vaccine supply is sufficient and hospitalizations are low. Currently the state is recording 5.1 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, and a 7-day average positivity rate of 1.8 percent. The state’s ICU availability is currently at 31 percent.