At a county vaccination center in Oxnard, Ventura County, a trickle of people arrive for their vaccines.
Some have appointments. But they don’t need to. Making vaccines available to walk-ins has been one of the ways that Ventura County has made it easier to get a vaccine, says Dr Robert Levin, the county's Public Health Officer.
He also says that those who perhaps have safety concerns, should be reassured by the 1 billion doses safely administered worldwide.
More than 62% of Ventura County residents 16 and older have received their 1st dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 46% of residents 16 and older have had both.
That’s above the state average of 45% - but now – the county faces the more challenging task of encouraging those who are hesitant to get the vaccine, to do so.
Public health nurse Brittany Romane oversees all of VC’s vaccination site pods.
She says giving people a choice between Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines has been helpful in getting people to come forward.
"Always giving people a choice opens the trust," she said. "It helps bring in more people, absolutely."
Site manager Kathy Mulford says if you’re concerned it’ll take too long, you will be in and out within 25 minutes.
There’s a 15 minute wait after receiving the dose - and then – it’s back to it, and those leaving the site say it was "easy", and one says she had made sure she has an "easy day" the next day, after receiving her second shot, in case she feels any flu-like symptoms.
More information on Ventura County’s vaccination sites are here.
