Good morning LA It’s February 26th.
Starting next month, new levels of LA County residents will become eligible for the coronavirus vaccine.
On March 1st, teachers, school staff, daycare staff and more emergency service staff can apply for their first doses. Is at March, 15, appointments will open for anyone between the ages of 16 and 64 with a qualified underlying health problem, including cancer, Down syndrome and pregnancy.
Along with this advance comes the need to increase the number of vaccines received here, but the low supply has been chasing distribution in LA since the beginning of the implantation.
Initially, it was not entirely clear why it was so difficult for eligible individuals to schedule their first doses. But like my colleagues Emily Guerin and Jackie Fortiér explained in mid-january, county health officials have reserved a number of vaccines for second doses – and they were getting so few from the feds that only a small amount was available to newbies.
The problem persisted earlier this month, when county vaccination sites temporarily appealed to offer only second doses. City Sites later he followed suit.
However, earlier this week, Governor Gavin Newsom said that California’s supplies will be constantly growing, in about 100,000 doses per week. New supersites are also opening, all as part of President Biden’s program ambitious goal to vaccinate 100 million people in 100 days.
Los Angeles city and county officials are preparing to extend the hours of mobile vaccination clinics and even offer “midnight clinics,” in which doses that would otherwise be dropped are administered. (According to a county health officer, night clinics are rare.)
Barbara Ferrer, director of public health for LA County said that the more people who become eligible, she expects it will be more difficult to get a vaccine until March, but she predicts that things will be moving faster in April.
That’s when Pfizer and Moderna will have accelerated the production of their vaccines, and a third vaccine from Johnson & Johnson will be approved.
Keep reading to learn more about what’s happening in LA todayand stay safe outside.
What else you need to know today
Weekend readings
There’s a lot going on in the world now, and it’s hard enough to keep up with our day-to-day lives, let alone stay up to date with the news. But if you have any time this weekend, here’s what you may have missed:
A new account it would require California to contract with more black-owned businesses. (LA Watts Times)
In the 1970s, a Los Angeles trans woman revolutionized the auto industry almost alone. A new documentary tells its story. (LAist)
Black journalists and editors in LA are examining the issue of equity in local newsrooms. (LA Sentinel)
An anti-gentrification group in Little Tokyo is working to keep intruders at bay. (LA Taco)
Failures of the California Department of Employment Development have left many residents in financial trouble. (LAist)
An expansion plan highways 605 and 5 would destroy hundreds of houses in Downey. (StreetsBlog LA)
If approved, President Biden’s immigration plan would create an eight-year path to citizenship. (LAist)
Shops and condominiums are starting to climb around SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. (Urbanize LA)
Long beach it became the epicenter of the (long-awaited) revival of bread in Southern California. (LAist)
Before you go … What to do this weekend
They say that March comes like a lion, so while you wait for the terrible cat to appear, here are some activities to keep you busy.
Head to the drive-in for a display of Coming to America, just in time for the next sequence, Coming 2 America. Learn about the music and life of Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez. Get some laughs – and maybe some feelings – at a non-binary interactive comedy show. Listen to a concert by Joachim Cooder and Amythyst Kiah. Explore Bob Baker’s Los Angeles. Stay tuned for the opening of the Belmar Historical Park in Santa Monica. And more.
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