SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) – Health experts say the window to fully vaccinate students 12 and older before the fall semester starts is getting smaller.
That’s why state health officials and the superintendent of public education held a press conference Thursday continuing to encourage families to get their children vaccinated.
The Santa Clara County vaccine officer says 81% of people 12 and older received at least one dose of the vaccine, however, that percentage drops significantly when we’re talking about 12 to 17-year-olds.
He says about 55% of that age group has received at least one dose of the vaccine reinforcing the need to get students vaccinated before school starts in August, especially with the Delta variant.
“Don’t start thinking about it a week before school starts because it’s too late to get your child vaccinated. Start thinking about it now,” Dr. Marty Fenstersheib said.
As Santa Clara County vaccine officer, Dr. Marty Fenstersheib explains the window to get your children vaccinated before school starts is shrinking.
“Really want to say to parents that it takes several weeks to get your child fully vaccinated and protected so here we are beginning of July, and if they get vaccinated soon it takes two weeks before you can get the second dose because it’s just Pfizer and then two more weeks before you’re fully vaccinated so we’re talking 5 weeks more or less. So that’s getting close to when they go back,” Dr. Fenstersheib said.
While he’s proud of the vaccination progress across the county, he hopes more people 12 to 17-years-old will get vaccinated, especially with threats of the Delta variant for unvaccinated people.
“We have 81.5% of people 12 and older who have had at least one dose and over 76% fully vaccinated so it’s really high. The 12 to 15, 12 to 17 haven’t been eligible as long as the older population so again they’re catching up but they’re about 55-60% vaccinated so we have a little ways to go,” Dr. Fenstersheib said.
Santa Clara County has been holding several events and raffles over the last few weeks to motivate younger people to get the vaccine.
The county offered concert tickets to artists like Bad Bunny, Harry Styles, Enrique Iglesias and more.