At least four Bay Area counties say they've had to reduce the number of first-dose COVID-19 vaccine appointments due to inadequate supply.
Santa Clara, San Mateo, Solano and Sonoma counties are all reporting a recent decrease in the number of vaccines they have received from the state.
In San Mateo County, the number of doses has changed widely — decreasing by more than 1,300 doses over the last two weeks.
"With the uncertainty around supply, San Mateo County is able to manage its second-dose clinics but has shifted away from large mass vaccination events to focus on smaller community-based first-dose clinics," said San Mateo Public Health Department spokesperson Preston Merchant.
Multiple factors determine the number of vaccine doses that counties receive, including how many federally qualified health care centers each county has, and the number of ZIP codes that qualify as at-risk, per state guidelines.
"The way to keep our case rates declining, as everyone knows, is to accelerate vaccination, particularly in communities that have had the highest rates of COVID, and that is really the central challenge before us now," said Dr. Sara Cody, health officer for Santa Clara County, where vaccine dose allocations have also recently decreased.
Meanwhile, other Bay Area counties have reported largely flat vaccine allocations, even as they say they have the capacity to inoculate thousands more residents each week.
"Demand for vaccine far exceeds supply," said Neetu Balram, a spokesperson for the Alameda County Public Health Department. "There continues to be more people who are eligible for [the] vaccine and want to be vaccinated than there is vaccine that can be allocated."
In response to the ongoing shortage, Gov. Gavin Newsom last week said counties could expect supply from the state to ramp up in the coming weeks. Local clinics may also soon qualify to receive additional supplies of the vaccine under a federal distribution program.