No Bay Area county health departments have signed on to participate in Blue Shield of California’s vaccine network, a state-funded agreement designed to speed up vaccine distribution.
Officials have pressed all the counties to join, but so far only nine counties and one city have opted in. Bay Area public health officials and lawmakers have questioned whether the health provider should be coordinating the state’s vaccine distribution.
One sticking point with the agreement between the insurer and the state is that it prevents counties from sharing vaccines with community clinic partners.
Dr. Jeff Smith, county executive for Santa Clara County, said during a Board of Supervisors meeting last week that the stipulation is a non-starter.
“Santa Clara County, and a number of other counties, made it clear that the current version of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) was not acceptable because it precluded the operations the way that we currently do them — sharing vaccine with our community clinic partners,” Smith said. “We think that's a critically important issue.”