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Seeking to reduce COVID-19 infections and deaths in some of its hardest hit communities, San Mateo County is shifting away from large-scale vaccination sites to smaller clinics, county health officials announced on Wednesday, March 17.
Those communities include East Palo Alto, South San Francisco, Menlo Park’s Belle Haven neighborhood, and North Fair Oaks in unincorporated Redwood City, where county-sponsored or supported community vaccine clinics are taking place this week. The county health department is also planning community clinics for next week and expects to announce additional locations soon, health officials said in the statement.
Since January, clinics at the San Mateo County Event Center and San Francisco International Airport have often vaccinated between 3,000 and 4,000 residents per day, based on vaccine supply, but that supply has been reduced since the county wasn’t included in the state’s list of the top 400 zip codes of the most vulnerable communities, much to the dismay of local officials. Wealthier and disadvantaged neighborhoods sometimes share the same zip code, as they do in Menlo Park, which knocked them out of priority eligibility for the vaccines.
The vaccines are being distributed by the state’s third-party partner, health insurance giant Blue Shield. The state said the decision is based on trying to distribute vaccines more equitably, but many communities of color and immigrants are being left out due to the zip code strategy, local health officials in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties have said.
East Palo Alto has 4,280 confirmed COVID-19 cases, exponentially higher than any city in the county, with North Fair Oaks having 1,682 cases and Pacifica the third most impacted with 1,215 cases. Menlo Park, which includes the underserved Belle Haven neighborhood and the wealthier western part of the city, has 1,529 cases as of March 12.
“Census tract data shows us exactly which neighborhoods are being impacted most by COVID. That’s why we are laser-focusing our vaccination efforts by providing clinics in highly impacted zip codes to get more doses in arms right in the neighborhood you live in and the language you speak,” Board of Supervisors President David J. Canepa said in the statement.
Dr. Anand Chabra, the county’s COVID-19 vaccination branch chief, said staff looked at the data and wanted to focus on neighborhoods where the vaccination rates are lower than the county as a whole.
“We’re trying to reach people where they live and in a format that makes sense to them. As much as possible we want to eliminate barriers to getting vaccinated,” he said.
The additional focus on community clinics will allow the county’s Emergency Operations Center to plan for scaling up mass-vaccination sites when more vaccines are available. Daily capacity at these smaller sites can increase significantly when vaccine supply improves, the county noted.
The community clinics will largely operate on regular schedules, allowing for better outreach to residents and more opportunities for scheduling appointments. Many clinics will also be able to vaccinate eligible residents without pre-scheduled appointments.
Combined with major health care providers, community clinics, partner organizations, and the county health department, San Mateo County has made significant progress, county officials said. As of March 17, one-third of county adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including three-fourths of those ages 65 and older and four-fifths of those 75 and older.
“Having been vaccinated when I became eligible, I have a great sense of relief, safety and security. I want eligible residents in our most underserved areas to be able to feel that way, too,” said Supervisor Carole Groom, who sits on the board’s COVID-19 subcommittee.
Subcommittee member and Supervisor Dave Pine said the county is not waiting for the state to determine where the vaccine is needed most locally but instead is taking it upon itself.
Supervisor Warren Slocum, whose Fourth Supervisorial District includes East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks and Belle Haven, said “The county’s priority, especially through an equity lens, is to vaccinate every resident when they are eligible, and that means we need to bring the fight to where the battle is.”
Eligible residents in targeted communities or groups will be contacted by the county or its outreach partners. County residents should sign up for the county’s notification tool and the state’s MyTurn website to be informed of vaccination opportunities when they are eligible.
Eligible residents with insurance also can receive vaccines through health care providers such as Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health and through pharmacies such as Rite Aid and CVS, although some of these providers have also reported experiencing shortages, the county noted.
Joan Lane, trailblazing volunteer and Stanford’s go-to for ‘sticky problems,' dies at 97March 25, 2026 3:23 pm
Wondering if North Fair Oaks needs non-medical volunteers (I’m already vaccinated)? Do you know who to ask?
I know that Ravenswood Family Health is looking for volunteers: https://ravenswoodfhc.org/get-involved/volunteer