Lompoc Vaccination Clinic Lowers Age to 50

As of this moment, Sunday’s are the only appointments fully booked at the new vaccination clinic in Lompoc, though this changes by the minute as people — who may be as young as 50 years old now — make, break, and reschedule appointments online to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Santa Barbara County.

Public Health announced on Wednesday that the agency’s vaccine supply was boosted from 3,376 the week before to 9,450 this week, adding that Lompoc’s Dick DeWees Community & Senior Center will open as a vaccination clinic on Sunday.

Then, on Thursday, Public Health made another announcement to broaden eligibility for the DeWees clinic to people over the age of 50, a full four days before California’s new bracket starts on April 1. All people in the earlier vaccine tiers may also register for the new clinic, which is administering first doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Named for popular Lompoc mayor Dick DeWees, who died in 2009, the DeWees will be open daily from Sunday, March 28 through Saturday, April 3, with appointments every six minutes between 9:30 a.m. and 6:24 p.m. Public Health’s vaccine clinic then opens in Santa Maria starting April 5 for seven days. The next stop is Santa Barbara, for five days, starting April 12. On Friday, the county’s Public Health czar, Van Do-Reynoso, said people 16 years and older qualify for the clinic that starts April 12; signups normally begin a day or two before clinic opening dates.

For those with a computer and internet access, many sites offer ways to make appointments at various locations. An appointments for the DeWees clinic can be secured at the Public Health website here. Workers in specific jobs, such as food and ag, emergency services, and childcare, and people in health-compromised categories will find individual links to an array of vaccine providers here. Also, California’s MyTurn vaccine registry, run through Blue Shield, lists available vaccination locations by eligibility criteria.

For those without computer access, the county information phone line takes calls for vaccine appointments seven days a week, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Dial 2-1-1 and then press 4 to reach the vaccine information line.

The new supply of vaccines comes through the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. California is also allocating vaccines from the supply the federal government sends. As of March 25, more than 170,000 total vaccine doses had been given in the county, 6,000 of them single Johnson & Johnson vaccines, and 54,000 of them second doses of either Moderna or Pfizer.