Wine Country Times

Sonoma County will be one of four counties within California to begin a new vaccination program through OptumServe, a company operating COVID-19 testing sites statewide, according to a county press release.

Through this new program, OptumServe has begun distributing vaccine doses at Rohnert Park Community Center as of Jan. 27. Sonoma County was chosen alongside San Bernardino, Riverside and Contra Costa counties to participate in this program. For this location, vaccinations will focus on patients who are 75 years and older. Vaccines will be distributed by appointment only, appointments that will be organized through senior community groups. The site will administer up to 420 doses each day. 

“This is an incredible opportunity for Sonoma County as OptumServe already has extensive experience in operating large-capacity sites like this," Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chair Lynda Hopkins said. “This is one more opportunity we will have to make sure that we get vaccines to those residents most at risk of contracting this virus."

With this new site at Rohnert Park, Sonoma County will now have eight vaccination clinics available throughout the area, distributing around 2,500 vaccinations each day. Currently, these clinics are providing vaccines for people who qualify for the Phase 1a category of California’s distribution plan. However, there are vaccines also being distributed through various hospitals, pharmacies and health care providers within Sonoma.  

“We are activating as many clinics as possible in partnership with health care providers and community organizations of all kinds,” Director of Sonoma’s Dept. Of Health Services Barbie Robinson said. “Our biggest concern is whether we will receive enough doses of vaccine in the days ahead to support all of these clinics. While that issue is out of our hands, we will continue to advocate for the resources we need, including additional doses.”  

People interested in learning more about the vaccination rollout and vaccination data can visit socoemergency.org/vaccine for up-to-date information.