As the federal government sends millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine overseas, Santa Clara County has decided to hold onto its stash.
Dr. Marty Fenstersheib oversees the COVID-19 vaccine distribution for Santa Clara County, and he told KCBS Radio that the county has "over 2,000 doses of the vaccine."
Fenstersheib and the Santa Clara County Public Health Department made the unanimous decision to keep the county’s COVID-19 vaccines in hopes that the younger population will eventually use them.
"We don’t have to ask, at this point, for any additional vaccine from the state," he explained. "We just need to get people in to get the vaccine. It doesn’t do us any good sitting in the freezer."
Santa Clara County has implemented outreach efforts by holding news conferences and offering up prizes or tickets to concerts in an attempt to entice younger generations into getting vaccinated.
"People really should realize that places around the country, around the world rather, are really hurting and would love to get the vaccine, but they don’t have it," he said. "Here we have it and people aren’t using it."
Fenstersheib said he understands the federal government "certainly wants to get the vaccine to where it’s needed around the world, and that’s important," but maintained that the county will continue to sit on what it has and will wait for people to come forward.
"It’s just going to take us a little bit longer to use it," he added.
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