Retail pharmacies now supply the lion’s share of San Diego’s COVID-19 vaccines

photo by Roland Lizarondo

Above: A nurse preparing a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, March 23, 2021.

San Diego residents have largely turned to traditional vaccination clinics to get vaccinated against COVID-19, county health officials said on Friday.

According to county data, retail pharmacies are now the main supplier of vaccines, administering more than 100,000 doses from July through Wednesday. They were followed, in order, by community clinics, with nearly 20,000 doses; private medical providers, with nearly 17,000 doses; departmental sites, with around 13,000 doses; and hospitals, with just under 9,000 doses over the same period.

“I would like to thank all of the San Diegan who have been vaccinated and the many partners who work daily with the county to ensure that vaccines are readily available in every part of our region,” said Dr Wilma J. Wooten, Head of county public health. “Masking and other public health advice are additional measures to help us navigate safely in the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccinations are our key to getting out of it.”

RELATED: San Diego County Reports Increase in Vaccine Count as COVID-19 Cases Rise

The county has worked with its immunization partners to spread the word to San Diego residents who are reluctant to get vaccinated.

To date, about 2.28 million – or 81.4% of the 2.8 million San Diego’s eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine – have received a first dose and about 1.97 million or 70.3% are fully immunized.

“I want to thank all of our community and healthcare partners who have done a great job of spreading the word about how important it is to get the vaccine,” Wooten said.

Over the past month, the local rate of COVID-19 cases has fallen from 2.1 to 19.3 cases per 100,000 population. Hospitalizations have also increased by more than 300% and intensive care unit admissions have increased by more than 120% during the same period.

RELATED: San Diego County to Phase Out Some COVID-19 Vaccination Sites

As of Thursday, a total of 1,273 cases were reported, the highest daily total since February 5.

The spike in cases led the county to recommend indoor masks for all San Diego residents, regardless of their immunization status.

“The unvaccinated people are overwhelmingly those who are infected and hospitalized,” Wooten said. “If you haven’t received your COVID-19 vaccine, do it now.”

The county is helping medical providers contact all San Diegans who are partially vaccinated to get their second vaccine, especially now that COVID-19 cases have increased – a spike caused mainly by the Delta variant. The county is also using the San Diego immunization registry to develop follow-up reminders for those who are late.

RELATED: San Diego Doctor Applauds State Vaccination Order

In addition to the hundreds of COVID-19 vaccination sites available throughout the region, the county also maintains eight geographically distributed toll-free vaccination sites that allow people to choose one of three vaccines available in the United States: Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

For a list of locations and more information, go to www.coronavirus-sd.com/vaccine.

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