Tulare County continues community vaccination efforts

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- From Orosi to Lindsay, there were vaccination events up and down Tulare County this week.

More events are scheduled this weekend and into next week.

"We are also experiencing some vaccine hesitancy and not seeing as many people coming out to our clinics as we had months prior, but they're still being utilized," Tulare County HHSA's Carrie Monteiro said. "And we're still going to be out there and available to our residents."

Appointments aren't necessary but can be made at myturn.ca.gov.

Public health officials say they're trying to schedule the clinics during hours they typically see high demand for the shot.

To date, nearly 300,000 doses have been administered in the county.

"We understand that people work and may not be able to get time away from work," Monteiro said. "So we're offering them in the evenings, outside of work hours, and on the weekends."

But eligibility has expanded beyond adults.

Tulare County Public Health is now offering the Pfizer vaccine to anyone over the age of 12.

Minors who want to get the shot need to have their parent or guardian sign a consent form.

Kids between the ages of 12 and 15 will also need to have that adult present at the time of their vaccination.

Between the public health department, health providers, and pharmacies, officials say there is a large supply of vaccines in Tulare County.

That's why the county has started to scale back on its requests for more doses.

"Once that supply inventory dwindles, we can order more in the future," Monteiro explained. "So we're doing this balancing act that we see, but at the end of the day, we have good supply and ample amount of doses available to get the people of Tulare County vaccinated who choose to get the vaccine against COVID-19."

For more vaccine resources and to print a copy of the minor consent form, click here.