The change happened almost overnight.
The ballroom at Meritage Resort and Spa, Napa County’s largest mass vaccination clinic, went from seeing a flood of residents clamoring for coronavirus vaccinations to just a trickle in the days following California’s expansion of vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older.
On Friday, the first day the clinic opened to the public following the statewide expansion, virtually all of the 1,400 appointments got snapped up. But by Tuesday, just two-thirds of available appointments that day — about 2,300 of 3,400 — were booked. The schedule for the rest of the week suggests a steep drop-off in interest.
Fewer than 1,500 people had booked appointments for Wednesday, by late afternoon Tuesday, out of nearly 3,700 available slots. For Thursday and Friday, only 82 people and 46 people, respectively, had signed up, although more than 3,200 slots are available each day.
The interest is waning so quickly that the site, which previously urged everyone to make appointments, is now open to walk-ins every day, from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Unused doses are sitting in deep freezers.
“We definitely have the capacity, the will and the volunteers and the commitment from everyone doing this work in Napa County,” said county spokeswoman Janet Upton. “But now what we’re lacking is, seemingly, public interest.”
While the apparent plateau in uptake at a single site is just one glimpse into the regional vaccination rollout, it does contrast starkly to the last few months, when lack of vaccine supply seemed to be the biggest problem slowing down vaccinations.
Young adults between ages 20 and 30 appear to be especially uninterested, or at least not particularly eager to get vaccinated, Upton said, citing health officer Dr. Karen Relucio’s observations at local vaccine clinics.
As a result, county health officials and their partners for the mass vaccination site — Kaiser Permanente, Queen of the Valley Medical Center and Ole Health — are now shifting their outreach messaging to try to get more people on board.
“We’re turning our messaging from, ‘Scarcity, wait your turn,’ to vaccine hesitancy outreach,” Upton said. “We’re kind of turning our efforts toward getting those who may be hesitant, who may need to hear a call to action from someone other than a government entity.”
About 57% of county residents 16 or older havereceived at least one dose of vaccine, and 40% are fully vaccinated, according to county data. Public health experts estimate that in order to reach herd immunity, the percentage of people vaccinated needs to hit 70% or higher.
Health officials are working with faith leaders, community groups, teachers, coaches and others to reach the remaining unvaccinated residents.
“We’re making good headway but now the call to action to our communities is, ‘We need your help to get to the finish line,’” Upton said. “It really is going to be that point in time where faith-based organizations, food banks, other mechanisms, trusted friends and family members are going to have to be the ones carrying the message going forward until we get that 75% or 80% community immunity that we’re striving for.”
Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho