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Placer Sentinel

Placer County Public Health to open additional community clinic for COVID vaccine

Oct 18, 2021 12:00AM ● By Placer County News Release

AUBURN, CA (MPG) - To ensure continued robust access as additional populations become eligible for their primary immunization series or for boosters, Placer County Public Health will open a small COVID-19 vaccine community clinic next week, and is exploring a second site.

The clinic in Roseville will be much smaller than previous mass operations @the Grounds, as there is much more capacity to administer vaccine now via health systems and pharmacies compared to initial rollout at the beginning of the year. Public Health is exploring the addition of a second smaller clinic site that would be located in Auburn.

“Such smaller sites will give us flexibility to adapt to changing demand with expanded eligibility, so we can scale up or down more nimbly as needed,” said Michael Romero, program manager for Placer County Health and Human Services. “We’re especially attempting to reach those who may face barriers accessing health care services.”

The Roseville site is located at meeting rooms in the Maidu Community Center at 1550 Maidu Drive in Roseville. It is a short walk from the Maidu Activity Center where the county’s OptumServe testing site operates, offering free PCR testing with an average 24-48 hour turnaround time.

The vaccine clinic will begin operating five hours a day, three days a week starting Oct. 19, and will at first be offering the Pfizer and J&J vaccines. As supplies allow, flu vaccine will also be offered at the Roseville clinic. Hours and vaccine brand availability are subject to change as needs and demand shift. Appointments and information are available and will be continually updated at myturn.ca.gov.

Announcements regarding future vaccine sites will be posted to placer.ca.gov/vaccineclinics, as well as the county’s vaccine text alert line, which individuals can subscribe to by texting PLACERVACCINE to 898211.

In addition, the SnapNurse mobile vaccine team that has operated in the county since June, funded by the state, will continue to provide Pfizer and J&J vaccines through at least the end of December. Among the top-performing SnapNurse operations in Northern California, the team frequents locations with high foot traffic to provide convenient walk-up access to those interested in receiving a vaccine.  

“The primary vaccine series is still the most important,” said Dr. Rob Oldham, interim health officer and director of Health and Human Services. “Folks who are unvaccinated are still the most vulnerable in this pandemic, and these options are intended to ensure they have multiple access points.”

News around expanded Pfizer eligibility for youth 5-11 and boosters for adults who received Moderna or J&J vaccines is expected from the federal and state levels in the coming weeks. More than 62% of Placer’s total population has currently received at least one dose of vaccine.