Marin County opens 1st booster shot clinic in San Rafael
For now, the county is prioritizing people 75-years-old & older at this site
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (KGO) -- The vaccination site opens at 1p.m. on Wednesday inside the Northgate mall in San Rafael. Marin County projects there are more than 70,000 residents who qualify to get the booster shot in that county, but the new site they are only giving priority to a specific group: Those 75 years old and older.
"We are in the center court part of the mall and we will have our clients enter from the hallway down there," said Dick Daley with the Marin County mobile operations and logistics team.
The site is divided in half. One side for registration and the other side for administering the boosters.
"We will have Safeway pharmacists help to provide the vaccine administration itself and then we will have EMT's here as well just to watch them in the observation area," said Laine Hendricks, Public Information Officer for Marin County,
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For Marin County, the shopping mall location was strategic with public transit and freeway access.
For now, Marin County is prioritizing the 75 year old population at this site, but is planning to provide boosters at this site for the rest of the qualified population in the near future.
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"When we look at our mortality data the vast majority of our deaths in Marin County have been of people above 75. We want to make sure that they have a head start in access to boosters," said Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County Public Health Officer.
The latest data shows a drop in protection after 6 months of getting the Pfizer vaccine.
Dr. Willis believes this booster will equip the older population to fight future COVID exposures.
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"This is data from Israel and Great Britain and other large studies across the populations that about 6 months is that inflection point where you really start seeing an increase risk of more severe illness in people who are re-infected. That is often age dependent," said Dr. Willis.
According to Marin County, there are over 11,000 residents 75 years old and older who got their second dose over 6 months ago and would benefit from this booster.
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Marin County is also planning to utilize their mobile vaccination strategy with this booster phase.
Next week, they will begin to take boosters to nursing facilities.
If you are 65 years old or older or have any underlying health conditions, you can get a booster shot at any of the CVS, Walgreens and Safeway pharmacies anywhere in the Bay Area.
Here is the address and schedule:
5800 Northgate Dr.
San Rafael, CA 94903
Thursday through Saturday: 9a.m. to 2p.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday: 1p.m. to 7p.m.
