SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, Calif. — Health officials in San Joaquin County are thinking outside the box, in order to get more people vaccinated. So far, only 56% of the county is fully vaccinated. Statewide in California, that number is at 70%.
The county is actively working on a strategy to help meet people where they are with vaccines, whether they're out shopping or at the workplace.
On Tuesday, the county partnered with El Concilio in the Dollar General parking lot of off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to offer free tacos to anyone receiving a vaccine at their mobile vaccine clinic from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Earlier in the day, the same team of nurses set up shop at Golden State Lumber in Stockton.
They are offering first doses, second doses and booster shots for those that are eligible.
Roberto Garcia is used to rolling up his sleeves at Golden State Lumber, amid a housing boom. But this time, it wasn’t for work.
"Easy, it’s a matter of making (the) decision," Roberto Garcia, an employee of Golden State Lumber, said.
Garcia said getting the vaccine was easy, and he did it in order to protect his family.
“We wanted to give everyone a very easy way to get their shots done," Robert Both, the vice president of operations at Golden State Lumber, said.
Both says they reached out to San Joaquin County and offered up their office to be used as a vaccine clinic not only for his employees but also their families, neighbors and anyone in the community for the day.
"Everyday that an employee misses here directly affects us and our customers, so anything we can do to help limit that, limit the absences and that, it’s only helpful for all of us," he said.
San Joaquin County Public Health Services said their strategy to get more people vaccinated sees their vaccine van moving all over the county multiple times a week, and it’s not just to the workplace.
"We’ve just kinda been out there, throughout the community, throughout the county and just trying to tap into events that people might be interested in and Taco Tuesday sounds like a good one," Cheryl Laughlin, public health spokesperson, said.
The strategy is designed for folks that may not have a primary care provider, a car to get to appointments or even the time to make those appointments.
"We just want to make sure we’re out in communities that are possibly underserved, and it’s more difficult for people to get out. So that’s why the mobile vaccination clinics are going where they are, just to make it easier for people to get there," Laughlin said.
The county said they’re still looking for other neighborhoods and events that they can bring their mobile vaccine clinic to. So if you’d like to see this in your neighborhood, you are encouraged to reach out to San Joaquin County Public Health Services.
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