Arnold Schwarzenegger participates in the photocall “Terminator: Dark Fate” on October 17, 2019 in London, England. | Tim P. Whitby / Getty Images
California actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, making him one of the first residents aged 65 and over to receive the injection in Los Angeles County. .
What happened: Schwarzenegger, 73, made an appointment for himself at one of the city’s large-scale vaccination sites on Tuesday, after county health officials announced that individuals age 65 and older could start receiving vaccines on Thursday. fair, according to its spokesman Daniel Ketchell.
Ketchell said he was surprised to see that a number of appointments were actually available for Wednesday, and Schwarzenegger applied for a slot at 8:50 am. He was met at the stadium by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who was personally checking cars arriving for appointments and had no prior knowledge of Schwarzenegger’s arrival, according to Ketchell.
“Okay, well, I just got my vaccine and I would recommend it to everyone,” said Schwarzenegger in a Twitter video shot from the passenger seat of an SUV.
“Come with me if you want to live,” he added, using a famous catchphrase from his films “Terminator”.
Key context: Vaccination sites operated by the county and the city of Los Angeles began to make appointments for elderly residents on Tuesday after an executive order from Hilda Solis, chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, instructed health officials to start prioritizing the age group responsible for the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths related to Covid.
Los Angeles County Director of Public Health, Barbara Ferrer, said last week that she did not expect to be able to offer vaccines to individuals aged 65 and over until next month, as thousands of high-priority health professionals still needed to be vaccinated.
Ferrer said on Tuesday that he did not feel rejected by the executive order and agreed to the approach of vaccinating health workers and elderly residents simultaneously, despite not having enough doses to complete either group.
As of Wednesday afternoon, hours available to residents 65 and older remained open at three of the drive-up, mass vaccination sites and a handful of hiking and clinic locations in the county.
Carla Marinucci contributed to this report.