San Luis Obispo County announced Friday morning that as of this week, more than 8,000 county residents have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department has received more than 12,200 vaccine doses (including first and second doses) and vaccinated more than 4,000 people.
Health care partners have also given out 4,000 vaccine doses directly to hospital staff, long-term care facilities, and staff at the Atascadero State Hospital and the California Men's Colony.
The Public Health Department now has the ability to vaccinate up to 3,250 people each week — 650 people per day, five days per week — and plans to open two more vaccine clinics later in January.
By February, the county anticipates being able to vaccine the next group of residents, which includes adults over 75 and critical care infrastructure workers.
"Locally, we are getting this vaccine to as many people as we possibly can as fast as we can,” said San Luis Obispo County Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein in Friday's release. “To help us, the SLO County COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force met for the first time yesterday to discuss local vaccine distribution, taking guidance from the CDC and State into consideration alongside comments and concerns from the public.”
The Vaccine Task Force includes people from:
- First responders (Emergency Management Services, Fire Department, law enforcement)
- Hospitals
- Bioethicists
- Community health centers
- Faith leaders
- Racial equity groups (NAACP, Promotores)
- Disability service organization
- Multilingual organizations
- Senior citizens
- The unhoused
- Transitions Mental Health Association
- Essential sectors (education, agriculture, utilities, transportation)
For more updates on vaccines, visit emergencyslo.org/vaccines. More information from the Public Health Department can be found at readyslo.org.