Certain essential workers in Los Angeles County, including teachers, will become eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccines from March 1, but are likely to face competition as supplies are expected to remain limited.
The next group of eligible angelenos includes educators and caregivers of children; food and agriculture workers, including grocery workers; and law enforcement personnel and other emergency responders.
“We anticipate the opening of many different locations and the creation of special locations, what we call closed locations for all of these sectors on March 1,” said LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer during an interview.
More than 1.3 million people fall into these groups. About 2.2 million people in LA County who work in health care, live in long-term care facilities or are 65 or older are already eligible to be vaccinated.
Given the large number of people who need to get their injections, “we will all still need a lot of patience here,” said Ferrer.
This is especially the case, as LA County, as well as the state and nation, continues to encounter frustrating limits in terms of vaccine supply.
Last week, LA County received 219,700 doses – its biggest shipment so far, but still a relative drop in the bucket for a county of about 10 million people.
Both available vaccines, one from Pfizer-BioNTech and the other from Moderna, require two vaccines, administered three and four weeks apart, respectively.
In the face of a shortage of supplies, the county had to limit the number of people who can receive initial doses to ensure they can get their second injection in time.
But Ferrer said the county will be able to work with much of that queue early next month.
“This will allow us to take the doses that are now going to the second dose consultations and put them back in the community for the first dose consultations,” she said. “And that allows us to have many more doses available as we expand the eligibility of those who can be vaccinated.”
To date, more than 1.5 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the county, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Approximately 38% of LA county residents aged 65 and over – about 537,895 out of more than 1.4 million people – received their first dose of vaccine, county supervisor Hilda Solis said on Tuesday.
“At the moment, our biggest limitation is the vaccine supply,” she said. “And as we move forward, more residents become eligible to be vaccinated. It is essential that the municipality receives more vaccines to meet this significant demand. “
LA County is not the only one dealing with vaccine shortages or accumulating supplies for second doses. Health officials across the state faced similar limitations.
That problem is expected to continue this week.
“Our city has the tools, infrastructure and determination to vaccinate Angelenos quickly and safely – we simply need more doses,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in a statement on Monday.
San Francisco was forced to temporarily halt operations at its vaccination sites at the Moscone Center and City College because of reduced supplies, according to a public health statement on Sunday.
And the number of people eligible to be vaccinated is expected to increase further in the next month. From March 15, people aged 16 to 64 who are disabled or at high risk of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 will be able to receive vaccines in California – expanding the total number of residents who can get vaccines to 17 million a year. 20 million.
But officials warn that actually getting an injection will be a challenge until more supplies are available.
Times staff writer Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.