San Jose COVID-19 Vaccine Demand in Decline

The recent decline in demand for COVID-19 vaccinations has been starting to worry health officials of Santa Clara County. This has been occurring despite expansions in vaccination sites, and increases in vaccine supply, putting hundreds of opened but unused vaccine doses to be thrown out as waste in the Bay Area.

County officials are currently encouraging the youth and the Latino residents to receive the vaccine as statistics have shown the fall in demand in the two demographics.

While two-thirds of the population has been vaccinated for the first dose, the second dose is necessary for the vaccination to reach full potential and efficacy. Therefore, this decline in vaccine demand is detrimental to the social welfare in San Jose, especially as schools and other public facilities are planning to fully re-open.

In efforts to raise vaccine demand, high schools have been distributing cookies and Boba drinks near vaccine sites. These methods, while minimal, have been encouraging the youth.

However, many have shown dissatisfaction on social media platforms regarding this incident. People are claiming how ridiculous it is for facilities to be distributing boba drinks and cookies in an attempt to get people vaccinated, while there are others in the world suffering from the extreme shortage of vaccines.

For instance, India is currently going through one of the worst economic troughs alongside an unprecedented number of COVID-19 cases worldwide since the start of the pandemic.

Other developed nations such as South Korea are going through extreme shortages in vaccine shots. Pfizer and Moderna are the two vaccines that have shown the highest efficacy in clinical trials worldwide but are extremely limited and rare in countries aside from the United States.

While it is politically understandable that the U.S. is bulk-buying supplies for vaccines to ensure the citizens’ safety, the number of doses going into waste is unjustifiable. Many on the Internet are currently criticizing the government and health facilities for a misallocation of scarce and necessary medical supplies.

Although it is not a country’s responsibility to ensure the safety of others, there should be a collaboration—a sharing of resources at devastating times—for the better of the entire world.

Comment your thoughts below!