Fresno County giving up 28,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses due to low demand in county

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno County health officials are giving up COVID-19 vaccine doses to other counties because turnout at vaccination sites has been low.

Around 28,000 vaccine doses are being given to health provider Blue Shield of California to redistribute to counties where demand is high and supply of doses is low, Fresno County Community Health Division Manager Joe Prado said.

He had earlier told Action News that the county is seeing only under 50% of appointment slots being filled at vaccination sites.

Merced County is one of those counties that does not have enough doses for the residents interested in getting a shot.

Fresno County officials are also shrinking the COVID vaccination site at the Fresno Fairgrounds, where they are currently able to administer 2,500 shots a day but fewer than 1,000 people are turning up.

Officials are trying to combat vaccine hesitancy among residents and say the low number of people seeking the doses is concerning. The sooner most people in the county are fully vaccinated, the sooner the county can reopen fully.

"The vaccines are the light at the end of the tunnel. It's up to us how long that tunnel is," said Fresno County interim health officer Dr. Rais Vohra.

He said it will be like 'Groundhog Day' until we get ourselves out of the pandemic and the vaccines are our best shot at getting out.