ON THE COVER
~135,500 — Humboldt County total population
The steep climb ahead to get a COVID-19 vaccine into the arms of tens of thousands of Humboldt County residents
~108,400 — 80% of Humboldt County population
By Thadeus Greenson Thad@northcoastjournal.com
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100,000
50,000
~7,300 vaccine doses had been administered in Humboldt County as of Jan. 14.
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North Coast Journal / Jonathan Webster 2021
NORTH COAST JOURNAL • Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021 • northcoastjournal.com
f mass vaccination is the road that will ultimately lead Humboldt County and the nation out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s proving a bit bumpy, with a series of blind turns that seemingly just keep coming. There were glimmers of hope in a Jan. 14 press conference — one of just a handful held since the county was put under a shelter-in-place order last March — when Health Officer Ian Hoffman announced Humboldt had offered a vaccine to all local healthcare workers and would be moving in the coming days to vaccinate residents aged 75 and older. Further, Hoffman said he expected vaccine shipments from the state to potentially double in the coming weeks. But the remarks of Hoffman and Public Health Director Michele Stephens also made clear a long road likely lies ahead and the county faces both internal and external challenges in vaccinating the 70 to 85 percent of the local population that health experts say is necessary to bring the virus’ spread under control and adequately protect vulnerable populations. Underscoring the challenges are the raw numbers. At the press conference, held a month to the day after Humboldt County administered its first vaccination dose to much fanfare, Hoffman said approximately 7,300 doses had been administered to local healthcare workers, widely considered the easiest demographic to vaccinate because they are easy to identify and most can receive it in their workplaces. Meanwhile, the next phase will include 10,000 local residents ages 75 and older, who will have to
coordinate vaccination with their primary care physicians or, if they don’t have one, Public Health. The task gets logistically more daunting from there, moving into the age 65 to 74 demographic, which includes 16,000 residents, or groupings by employment sector. Pressed as to why Humboldt County was not opening vaccinations to everyone over the age of 64, or to teachers, Hoffman said it simply comes down to supply. “There currently is not enough vaccine,” Hoffman said, adding that’s not for a lack of effort. “This is happening in every single county, in every single jurisdiction across the country. … We took what we were offered. We’ve accepted everything we’ve been offered. We’ve never declined vaccine, and we are allocating it out with our healthcare partners to give in the order that was laid out in the phases and tiers. When we have enough vaccine to move on in the phases and tiers, we will absolutely do that.” The extent to which much of this is out of local hands would come further into focus in the days following the press conference. Both of the vaccines approved to date — one by Pfizer and one by Moderna — require two doses administered several weeks apart to achieve full immunity. Early last week, the federal government directed states not to hold second doses in reserve but to administer all they had, raising hopes a windfall of doses that had been in storage would be released. But several days later, the Washington Post and other news outlets reported that the federal gov-
