SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Open since January, slowing demand for the COVID-19 vaccine means Stanislaus County will close down their four mass vaccination sites by the end of May.
"Most people who are non-ambulatory, people who can get out that were healthy enough to stand in line, they've been vaccinated," said Vito Chiesa, Stanislaus County Supervisor. "I think we have some vaccine hesitancy, but we also have people who just didn't make it out there, maybe it's a transportation issue."
The mass vaccination sites to close are in Oakdale, Patterson, Modesto and Turlock. Oakdale is slated to close in about a week.
When it comes to the numbers of those vaccinated, Chiesa says just over half of those in Stanislaus County have had at least one shot.
But, when it comes to the county's largest racial group, Latino's, who make up nearly half the population at 47%, only 21% have had at least one dose and only 12% are fully vaccinated.
Community clinics have targeted farmworkers in very small communities like Grayson.
Now, the plan is to ramp up those efforts with more targeted, mobile vaccination sites.
"Going to mobile clinics where we actually go out into the community, I think we're probably going to contract with a couple of people outside of the county, some outside contractors to help us," Chiesa said.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse, head of Emergency Services, says the mobile clinics will key in on specific groups in need of the vaccine.
"We want to shift our efforts to mobile clinics to focus of the most at risk populations and demographics," said Dirkse.
WATCH ALSO: