Wine Country Times

Sonoma County will focus on vaccinating those above age 75 in their continued rollouts of the COVID-19 vaccines. 

Those above 75 are the most at-risk population for the coronavirus, which has spurred county officials to distribute vaccine doses to them with greater priority. Over 102,000 residents are over the age of 65 within Sonoma County. 

“The 36,000 seniors in this age bracket represent our most vulnerable residents. They have accounted for two-thirds of all of the COVID deaths in the county. Due to our limited supply of vaccine, we are in triage mode, and we must prioritize this most at-risk group first. We don’t have time to wait," Chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Lynda Hopkins said.

Sonoma County residents above the age 75 can schedule an appointment to receive a vaccine through their primary health-care providers. Residents can also set appointments with one of several vaccination clinics that have been established throughout the county.  

Officials at the newly-launched Rohnert Park OptumServe clinic initially experienced some difficulty ensuring that those in the priority age group received the vaccine. Of the first doses distributed from the OptumServe site, approximately 85% of those were given to residents under the age of 75. This equated to around 9,000 doses. Part of this complication may have been in part to the online system for booking appointments, as older demographics tend to be less literate with computers. 

To affirm that those receiving the vaccines were those who were most at risk, officials made the decision to cancel appointments for any patients who are not over the age of 75. Those who have already received their first dose will not need to reschedule their second appointment- OptumService will be reassigning patients for their second appointments. 

For more information regarding vaccine rollouts and appointments, residents can visit SoCoEmergency.org/vaccine.