When fully operational, the new sites will be able to vaccinate 4,000 people a day at each site. The county expects to complete an additional 500,000 vaccinations by the end of the month.
The new super sites are located at:
“People will stay in their cars and will pass by the place, where they will be examined, make an appointment, have an identity card, will be vaccinated and depending on whether they need to be observed for 15 or 30 minutes, this is where they will be and they will remain in the car throughout the process, “said Marco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
How to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Southern California
A spokesman for the LA County Fire Department said she was excited to receive her second dose of vaccine at CSUN.
“It is a moment of hope for all of us. It is a historic moment. I mean, a few months ago we were here taking the COVID test and now we are doing vaccines, so it looks very special today,” said Lydia Garillas.
On Tuesday, all sites will be open by appointment only from 10 am to 4:30 pm, but will open at 9 am daily starting on Wednesday. According to the county’s Department of Public Health website, appointments for Tuesday at CSUN and Fairplex were all scheduled.
A forecast of strong winds across the region prompted authorities in Orange County to temporarily close the Disneyland vaccination site. However, the five new sites in LA were opened as scheduled, despite the winds.
Solis’ order will allow residents aged 65 and over to start making appointments for vaccines starting Thursday, despite the desire of health officials to finish inoculating medical workers amid a limited supply of medicines.
The state opened vaccine eligibility for people aged 65 and older earlier this month, but LA County was lagging behind other Southern California counties in opening vaccinations for that group.
County public health director Barbara Ferrer said last week that the county would not offer vaccines to people 65 and older until vaccinations by frontline health workers were completed. This process was expected to last until the end of the month.
Ferrer noted that expanding vaccine availability is highly dependent on local vaccine supplies.
There was no immediate word on the impact that Solis’s order would have on the county’s vaccine supply and its ability to complete vaccination for health workers.
The county health department says it currently has enough injections to treat 50,000 people.
“We will receive our allocations for this week today and tomorrow, so we will compete for the distribution, which should take us until next Monday. And then we just have to see how many doses we will receive for the following week,” said Dr Ferrer.
Meanwhile, many Los Angeles County firefighters are already getting their second vaccination.
Fire chief Daryl Osby received the accompanying dose.
The chief said 75% of his department had been vaccinated and infection rates plummeted after the first dose.
“The people who are now receiving COVID are those who have not been vaccinated, so the first injection is going very well in terms of preventing our members from receiving COVID-19,” he said.
Getting all firefighters to vaccinate, however, is proving complicated. The boss says he can’t legally demand it, so he hopes scenes like Downey’s on Tuesday will inspire the rest of his department to take the photos.
The City News Service contributed to this report.
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