In Solano County, 15% of people who got their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine missed their appointment for a second dose. That's twice the national rate reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than half of the people who skipped completing their inoculation were scheduled to get it this month. Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas says the no-shows are most likely younger people who became eligible for the vaccine more recently.
"That may be because they're just not in a hurry," Matyas said. "They feel healthy. They, they may feel that one dose was enough."
Matyas also believes the FDA pause of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine may have deterred people from getting the second dose of Pfizer or Moderna. But ultimately, he believes a lot of people will come back to complete their vaccination, which is what officials recommend for the strongest protection against COVID.
Meanwhile, health officials in San Mateo County say they were surprised to find 17,000 people were overdue for a second shot. Of those, almost 11,000, or more than 2% of everyone given a first dose, have passed the six-week point, after which vaccine efficacy is unknown, according to the CDC.
Officials in San Mateo attribute the drop off in part to limited vaccine supplies over the past few weeks. They say a new partnership with the federal government should increase supply.
In Marin County, about 1,000 people are overdue for their second shot. Other Bay Area counties are not tracking the number of people who have skipped a second dose.