Quick Take
Here’s a breakdown of all the places a person might go to get vaccinated in Santa Cruz County now that eligibility is expanding. Plus, our Mallory Pickett helps you navigate what to do step by step on camera.
Eligibility is now wide open.
But how about availability?
All Californians 16 and older became eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations on Thursday. But multiple issues have surfaced with the supply of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, including an extremely small number of recipients being diagnosed with blood clots.
This forced California on Tuesday to put a pause on the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine statewide. It also is raising questions about the long-term prospects of getting all California adults inoculated quickly.
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State officials, however, say the Johnson & Johnson problems shouldn’t create a huge issue, as the state has been getting relatively little J&J vaccine to begin with. Even before the pause, a drying up of Johnson & Johnson supply was expected drive down the size of the state’s overall allocation of vaccine doses from the 2.4 million doses received last week, to 2 million this week to 1.9 million the week after that.
If the vaccine supply holds around those levels, the next challenge is booking an appointment.
The California Department of Public Health said recently that residents could go through their doctor’s office to begin booking their shots.
With that preamble, Lookout is breaking down all the places a person might go to get vaccinated — along with some other potential resources, including this video by our Mallory Pickett:
Five other big things to note:
- This story is being updated often, so check back for new details.
- State or local hotlines could be of assistance in finding an inoculation site. The state’s COVID-19 hotline — at (833) 422-4255 — is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
- Signup for the state’s MyTurn vaccine notification system is available here.
- MyTurn officials said the online system can handle up to 300,000 transactions per hour, and that they expect it to handle demand. However, you should also probably be prepared to look for appointments through the various available routes on your own once you become eligible, rather than waiting to be notified and using MyTurn to schedule.
- National pharmacy chains throughout Santa Cruz County and the state are offering COVID-19 vaccine appointments. In addition to the online scheduling available, it might be worthwhile to call or visit your local pharmacy to ask about appointments, and ask whether they have a waitlist for people to receive leftover vaccines at the end of the day.
Here’s a look at the latest available information as of April 15:
Scanners and bots
A number of vaccine appointment scanning sites and Twitter bots have been created in the past couple of months. They search multiple websites and compile available appointments. You’ll still have to click through and visit those individual sites to make your appointment. Other than Vaccine Finder, which is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these are not government-run sites and may not contain the most accurate and up-to-date information.
Vaccine Finder — Scans available appointments by distance from your ZIP Code. Enter your ZIP Code and then select from the drop-down menu the distance you’re willing to travel. Allows you to select the type of vaccine. Vaccine Finder is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
VaxxMax — Scans available appointments from Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens and Health Mart in all states. Select “California” from the drop-down menu on the right and the pharmacy chain from the drop-down menu on the left. You’ll need to select the pharmacy chain and state each time to generate new search results.
Vaccine Spotter CA — Scans available appointments at various pharmacy chains across California. Enter your ZIP Code and select the distance you’re willing to travel. Includes options to sort by type of vaccine offered, appointment type (if you’re specifically looking for a second dose appointment), and pharmacy chain.
@VaccineCA — Twitter bot that scans for available appointments at CVS and Rite Aid.
@CovidVaccineCA — Twitter bot that scans when new appointments become available through MyTurn.
CVS
To make an appointment: Sign-up can be done online here.
Rite-Aid
To make an appointment: Sign-up can be done online here.
Walgreens
To make an appointment: Sign-up can be done online here.Safeway
To make an appointment: Sign-up can be done online here. (Note, this link takes you to an Albertsons scheduling site. Safeway is a subbrand of Albertsons.)Costco
To make an appointment: Sign-up can be done online here.
Horsnyder’s
To make an appointment: Call (831) 423-2315
Westside Pharmacy
To make an appointment: Call (831) 423-7175
Doctors on Duty
To make an appointment: Call any of the Santa Cruz offices, contact information here.
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Kaiser Permanente
To make an appointment: Call Kaiser at (866) 454-8855 or use their online portal to schedule an appointment.
Sutter Health/Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF)
To make an appointment: Call (844) 987-6115 or make an appointment on their online portal.
Dignity Health Medical Group/Dominican
To make an appointment: Call (831) 288-6526 or through the online patient portal.
Salud Para La Gente
To make an appointment: Call (831) 728-0222
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Santa Cruz Community Health (SCCH)
To make an appointment: Call (831) 427-3500. If you are a health care worker, certification of status is required.
Emeline Health Center
To make an appointment: To make an appointment, contact the main line at (831) 454-4100.
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Watsonville Health Center
To make an appointment: Call or text (831) 515-9399. If you send a text message include your full name, date of birth and phone number. You can also contact the clinic main line at (831) 763-8400
Homeless Persons Health Project (HPHP)
Who is eligible? Eligible people experiencing homelessness or eligible homeless service providers.
To make an appointment: Call (831) 454-2080 or register here.
Contributing: Los Angeles Times