Public Health launches Covid-19 vaccine clinic to speed up phase 1A distribution

HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif. (KIEM) — The Humboldt County Public Health Department is partnering with the Emergency Operations Center to speed up the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, specifically phase 1A that includes health care workers. 

Phase 1A of Covid-19 vaccine distribution is underway with more than 3,600 health care providers having already received their first dose. Public Health is setting up an invitation-only mass vaccination clinic to administer the remaining 2,000 first round doses.

“If you’re part of one of those major organizations, you probably have been offered your chance to get a vaccine. Now, we are working on the folks who are not a part of those groups:  independent practices, specialty officers, dental offices, people who aren’t working for St. Joe’s, Open Door, or Mad River,” according to County Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman.

Second doses of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and getting those administered will start this week. As the county begins receiving those second doses, shipments of first doses may slow down. The county didn’t receive any more Pfizer vaccines this week.

“We expect to see very little new vaccine coming in because we are pretty much only receiving second doses as this point. We expected this to potentially happen that we may get quantities of vaccine early on, but not as much as we start to see second doses,” Hoffman says.

As far as a timeline for phase 1B and wider distribution to the community, it depends largely on the number of vaccines the County receives.

“Phase 1B should be starting towards the end of January, and we’ll see how that looks like. I think that it depends again on the number of vaccines we are given,” according to Hoffman.

The vaccine clinic will run 3 days a week for the next 6 weeks. Just to reiterate, the clinic is invitation only.