Vaccine efforts ramp up in Riverside County, but challenges persist

Riverside County officials said Thursday they're optimistic about increasing the number of vaccinations being performed.

"We're going as quickly as we can," said Jose Arballo, a spokesperson for Riverside County Public Health.

The vaccination efforts are showing positive signs of acceleration, Arballo said, including an increasing supply of doses.

"We usually get somewhere between 21,000 to 22,000 doses a week," he said. "This week we got a little more."

That's resulting in more appointments being made available at county vaccine clinics.

"Some that were doing 800 or 900 (appointments) are now doing 1,200 to 1,500," Arballo said. "That's why the waits might be a little longer."

IF the limited supply of doses continues to grow, Riverside County is prepared to ramp up the rate of vaccinations immediately.

"We're able to process them so quickly," Arballo said. "So I think we'd be able to double or triple it if we were to have the supply."

With vaccinations at county sites limited to people 65 and older right now, the county is having discussions about targeted opportunities for other groups, including for teachers or restaurant workers, Arballo said.

And while the county is also bringing clinics to farmworkers, it still lags behind in vaccinating minority populations. "People of color, Latinos, African Americans – we'd like to do better reaching them," Arballo said.

With so much focus on vaccines, county officials hope to refocus some attention on the importance of continuing to get tested. The state continues to track testing metrics, and Riverside County currently falls below the threshold to eventually re-open further.

"We were well above the state average and now we're just a tick below the average," Arballo said.