Take whichever COVID vaccine you can get, advise Fresno County health experts
'People are choosing to search out a particular vaccine and that's a dangerous thing to do.'
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An expanded rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine meant plenty of cars rolling into clinics across Fresno County. 22-year-old Maria Mendoza put her vaccine fears aside to get her first dose of Pfizer at the Gaston Clinic.
"I feel like it's important because you need to take care of yourself and I have my grandparents with me so I don't do it for myself, I do it for them," she said.
Clinical nurse lead Carla Stanley said Maria wasn't alone in her hesitancy, adding, "If you need education, you need information, this is still the place to come. We can talk you through that process in hopes to encourage you to vaccinate."
The registered nurse embodies the African American Coalition and Vaccine Equity Project's mission to make sure anyone can get the vaccine.
Now she wants to make sure neither fear nor vaccine shopping serves as a barrier between you and your shot.
Stanley added, "People are choosing to search out a particular vaccine and that's a dangerous thing to do. COVID can strike at any time. It can debilitate you, it can even kill you."
Surpassing 40,000 doses administered since vaccines first became available, Sierra Pacific Orthopedics added 200 first dose appointments on top of its 750 already scheduled second dose appointments.
Those who showed up without appointments were taken on a first-come-first-served basis.
Director of Sports Medicine, Rick Lembo, said, "We still have restrictions from the county as far as how many doses we're allotted per day but the vaccine is safe and just to try to instill public faith in the vaccine all three brands."
Fresno County Public Health Division Manager, Joe Prado, said, "The best vaccine is the available vaccine. So if it's easier for you to go to Walmart to CVS go there. If you want to go down to the fairgrounds we've got plenty of slots available for you."
The county is approaching almost 500,000 vaccine doses administered. Despite the announcement that eligibility requirements were waived, thousands of appointments remain available at all of their sites in Fresno and surrounding areas.
Those using the MyTurn website ran into a roadblock with scheduling.
RELATED: Central California COVID-19 vaccines: How to make an appointment, latest information by county
Prado said, "We made our request to MyTurn yesterday to make that transition to 16 and older. Unfortunately, it wasn't done."
For anyone still running into trouble with the MyTurn site, the county said scheduling appointments there will be available Saturday morning at the latest.
But that's only one avenue so for a list of clinics and providers click here.
