Clovis school board meetings have been tense, but is the city anti-vax? Here’s the data
Student vaccination requirements have been a hot political topic at school board meetings locally and around the nation.
While some Clovis Unified parents have spoken out in favor of vaccine requirements and other COVID safety measures, the debate at Wednesday’s board meeting was dominated by residents urging the board to fight the new rule.
But Fresno County COVID-19 vaccination data shows those voices don’t necessarily represent the majority of Clovis-area residents.
According to recent data, Clovis has relatively high vaccination rates compared to other parts of Fresno County.
Clovis, Fresno County youth vaccination data
And while ZIP code data doesn’t perfectly reflect the boundaries for a school district that includes part of nearby north Fresno, vaccination rates throughout the Clovis area remain among the highest in the county.
As of Thursday, 46.8%, or 43,564 youth ages 12 to 17 in Fresno County have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to Fresno County’s COVID-19 Immunization Dashboard.
Over 56% of California youth ages 12-17 are fully vaccinated, while another 8.3% are partially vaccinated.
More than 60% of the Fresno County vaccines administered to youth went to children between 12 and 15 years old.
Like most cities, youth vaccination rates in Clovis vary by neighborhood.
For example, from Sunnyside Avenue to Locan Avenue, between Ashlan and Nees, 46.9% of 12-15-year-olds have been vaccinated, and 65.7% of 16-17-year-olds are vaccinated.
The overall vaccination rates in Clovis for residents 12 and up are even higher.
As of Sept. 28, the 93611 ZIP code of Clovis is 64.2% vaccinated, and 71.8% have at least one dose administered; Clovis’s 93612 ZIP code has 58.3% of residents fully vaccinated, and 66.2% of residents have at least one shot, according to California Department of Public Health data.
The nearby 93619 ZIP code includes northeast Clovis and a largely rural area north and east of the city. There, almost 80% of the vaccine-eligible residents are fully vaccinated, and about 89% have at least one shot.
According to an ongoing survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly half (48%) of U.S. parents of children ages 12-17 say their child has received at least one dose of a vaccine.
Another 4% of parents say they will only get their teenager vaccinated “if their school requires it.”
About 15% of parents say they want to “wait and see” before getting their 12-17-year-old vaccinated, down from 23% in July. One in five parents (21%) say they will “definitely not” vaccinate their child.
About 34% of parents say they will vaccinate their 5-11-year-old child “right away” once a vaccine is authorized for their age group, which could be available in a matter of weeks.
California health officials say youth vaccinations are crucial to keeping school communities healthy.
“COVID-19 vaccines ... provide a strong protective layer for our schools, especially for students those who are younger than 12, who are not yet even eligible to be vaccinated,” said UCSF pediatrician and leader of the Safe Schools for All, Naomi Bardach, in an email statement to The Bee on Sept. 29.
Fresno County youth vaccination efforts
County health officials say that the youth vaccination rates are “good” but “not excellent.”
”We definitely want to be improving on a week-to-week basis,” said Joe Prado, Fresno County community health division manager, during the county’s COVID-19 briefing update on Oct. 1.
For now, Fresno County health officials said they are focusing vaccination efforts on younger populations, especially in hard-to-reach rural areas.
Many parts of California’s Central Valley are “vaccination deserts” because of a lack of access or other, more intractable barriers for these rural communities. These areas tend to have a demographically younger Latino population.
Other community-driven efforts to boost vaccination rates among Fresno County’s youth include the teen-led “promoteritos” program that launched in July, where young health promoters are dispelling misinformation in their communities.
