UC Davis Health, the only academic health service provider in the greater Sacramento area, announced yesterday that it will offer vaccinations to anyone age 16 and older this Tuesday.
However, within 24 hours of the announcement, all available appointments for this week were reserved.
"There has been a tremendous outpouring of interest," said Steve Telliano, spokesperson for UC Davis Health.
Starting tomorrow, April 6, anyone aged 16 + will be eligible to schedule a vaccination appointment for #COVID19 at UC Davis Health.
Our current patients can schedule here: https://t.co/KeTbLEmHsm
Non-UC Davis Health patients can schedule here: https://t.co/ScxKso4zG5 pic.twitter.com/PkONGVeEPb
— UC Davis Health (@UCDavisHealth) April 6, 2021
While vaccine eligibility for Sacramento County currently includes everyone ages 50 and older and all those in California's 1A and 1B phases, following the state's guidelines, UC Davis Health says it chose to expand eligibility ahead of the county due to the low number of vaccine appointments being booked there through the state vaccination portal, My Turn.
"We started working with My Turn in order to be more open and accessible — but what we've realized is that we are not just getting that many appointments through the My Turn website," said Telliano.
To make the vaccine registration process easier, UC Davis Health has launched two websites to schedule an appointment: one for patients and another for non-patients. But at the moment, due to that high demand, the website for non-patients currently lists no available appointments.
UC Davis Health now finds itself in the exact opposite situation from last week, when it had plenty of available appointments but few people booking them. However, Telliano encourages those looking for a vaccination with UC Davis Health to be both patient and persistent.
Lack of health insurance or immigration status will not disqualify someone from receiving a vaccine, affirmed Telliano. The only requirement needed for someone to be vaccinated, he added, is to prove that they are 16 or older. Living in the Davis area is also not a requirement.
"We're not letting barriers of insurance, or anything else, get in the way," said Telliano.