Fresno County’s ‘losing ground’ to vaccinate youth against COVID, officials say. Here’s why
Fresno County children are being vaccinated against COVID-19 at a much lower rate than California’s statewide average, and that’s causing concern among the county’s health leaders for the level of protection afforded to school-age children.
“There’s a significant lull in the amount of 5- to 11-year-olds being vaccinated here recently,” Joe Prado, assistant director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health, said in a media briefing with reporters Wednesday. “We’re seeing less than a 1% increase when we look at the data from week to week.”
As of Monday, just under 23% of Fresno County’s children ages 5 to 11 had received at least one dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for which they are eligible, according to information from the California Department of Public Health. That compares to more than 34% of children statewide in that age group.
A similar gap exists in the vaccination rates for children ages 12 to 17. In Fresno County, about 55% of students in that age group have received at least one dose of vaccine. Statewide, the average is almost 73%.
“We’re losing ground with our 5-11s and 12-17s (age groups) when we compare ourselves to the state overall,” Prado said. “Unfortunately right now there’s just not a lot of movement in these age groups.”
In the first month of 2022, Fresno County health officials report that there have been 2,147 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among children ages 15 and younger as the highly contagious omicron variant of coronavirus continues to spread. Over 21 months of the pandemic, since the earliest cases were reported in March 2020, cases among children have numbered 27,648.
What the county is doing
Prado said there are almost 180 providers – health clinics, doctor’s offices, and retail pharmacies – offering coronavirus vaccines throughout Fresno County, in addition to mobile and pop-up clinics. That’s why the availability of vaccines or access to them is less of a concern than parents’ willingness to get their children vaccinated.
“Right now it’s really the education side,” he said, “and parents and families making the decision whether or not to vaccinate their children.”
County health officials are trying to coordinate with school districts, churches and anywhere else that invites them to provide pediatric vaccine clinics to make it more convenient for families, Prado said. About 30 such events are scheduled this month in Fresno County.
Information about where and how to get a COVID-19 vaccine is available on Fresno County’s health department website, or through the state’s MyTurn appointment website at myturn.ca.gov. People without internet access can also call Fresno County’s COVID-19 information line at (888) 559-2683, or MyTurn at (833) 422-4255.
Among adult age groups in Fresno County, the percentages of eligible residents who have received at least one shot are about 71% of those ages 18 to 49; almost 86% of people ages 50 to 64; and more than 88% of people age 65 and older.
Developments with Pfizer vaccine
The lagging vaccination rates for COVID-19 among children in Fresno County come as drug maker Pfizer submitted its request Tuesday to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for its vaccine to be available for children under the age of 5.
Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer for Fresno County, said there is still a very deliberate approval process before shots would be authorized or recommended for the youngest age group that so far remains ineligible for vaccines.
“As a parent of a child that’s in that age group, I’m looking forward to seeing what the science shows and then being able to protect my child with a vaccine,” Vohra said Wednesday.
“But we’ll have to wait for the FDA and the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention) to give the official approval before we recommend it here in Fresno County and in the rest of California.”
Vohra underscored the importance of ensuring that parents can find answers to their questions and concerns about the safety of the coronavirus vaccines, “and we need to do a better job really meeting them, nudging them and pushing them in this direction,” he said.
Vohra said that through the rest of this school year and over the summer, his expectation is that all of Fresno County’s school-age children will be vaccinated before the start of the 2022-23 school year in the fall.
“Moving forward we can really make this just one of the standard pediatric vaccines that are required for school enrollment,” he added. “I think that’s the long-term vision.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 6:00 PM.
