George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UC San Francisco, by email. “No surprise that Riverside and San Bernardino are lagging behind (true for adult vaccination, too),” said Dr. And in the Southland, coastal counties have embraced vaccines with greater zeal than the inland counties. The Bay Area - where the weather is cooler and the politics are more progressive - has embraced COVID-19 vaccines with greater zest than Southern California since the pandemic began. But hopefully we will get some traction!” It does seem like in general our society is very risk averse, and much more focused on personal, individual safety than communal benefit at this point. “The hope would be, as people see how safe it is, and that vaccination efforts are mitigating the pandemic, that more people will jump on board. I got my 8-year-old immunized immediately when it came out. I say that even being a pediatric intensivist and having seen kids with really life-threatening illness from COVID. “People are somewhat reasonably more cautious about the vaccine in younger kids, since the data is clear that younger kids are at much lower risk for severe disease. Willis, professor of pediatrics and senior associate dean for medical education at UC Riverside, by email. “I think, initially, I am happy with any uptake, as a starting point,” said Dr. In Los Angeles County, it was 8.7% Riverside County, 4.6% and San Bernardino County, 4%. Orange County had the highest uptake of the four big Southland counties at just 9%. Southern California, meanwhile, lags far behind. It was 22.2% in Santa Clara County and 20.2% in Alameda County. In wealthy Marin County, north of San Francisco, 30.7% of newly eligible children have received the first shot. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Bradley Jacoby, pediatric physician for COVID-19/flu at Kaiser Permanente Riverside, holds his hand. Vittorio Jacoby, 5, receives the Pfizer vaccine for kids between 5 and 11 from nurse Angelique Dominguez at Kaiser Permanente Riverside on Thursday, Nov. But early data show that, statewide, 9.4% of children in this age group have already been jabbed - and that kids in big Bay Area counties are getting shots far faster than their southern counterparts. And when we’re done, you can grab a piece of candy from the bowl!įederal officials gave the green light for kids ages 5 to 11 to get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine just two weeks ago, so the campaign to enlist them as foot soldiers in the battle against the virus’ spread is still in its infancy. It’s just a little pinch, the nurse said as the girl rolled up her sleeve. Coronavirus vaccines for kids lag in Southern California compared to Bay Area – Orange County Register