New evidence shows the vaccine rollout plan in Santa Clara County is uneven and chaotic as hospitals and clinics face both appointment cancellations and lack of vaccination doses.
While Kaiser Permanente in the South Bay says it has had to cancel thousands of appointments because it simply can't get enough doses of the vaccine, Santa Clara County says its facing a frustrating number of no-show patients for confirmed vaccine appointments.
"We could give a lot more vaccines, as could a lot of entities on our community, but we just don't have them," said Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Marty Fenstersheib.
He said they need more vaccine doses, and they also need people to stop making appointments and not showing up making the process even more frustrating and complicated.
"First of all, don't make more than one," he said, "and cancel any that you don't plan to go to."
On the contrary, Kaiser Permanente said it has had to cancel 5,000 vaccine appointments for seniors because they don't have enough vaccines either.
“We understand the frustration this causes, and we are continuing to do all we can to increase the supply of vaccines working in partnership with county, state and federal governments," the hospital said.
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Meanwhile, Santa Clara County said anyone looking to get vaccinated should keep on trying.
"Make an appointment again," Dr. Fenstersheib said. "Some may say they don't have appointments, they're filled up, and we want people to keep checking back and hopefully soon we'll have enough to meet the need."
Kaiser Permanente said that as soon as they get more vaccines, they will reschedule the appointments starting with those 75 years and older.
