Agriculture, food, education, daycare and emergency services workers will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine next week. They join a list that already consists of health professionals, long-term residents and individuals aged 65 and older, as local vaccination efforts continue to expand.
In addition, distribution of the vaccine in Kern County is being taken over by the state of California, changing procedures that were in place in recent weeks.
Starting on Monday, individuals wishing to use the mass vaccination site at the Kern County Fairgrounds will need to visit myturn.ca.gov or call a state call center at 833-422-4255. Previously, Kern County Public Health Services handled vaccination appointments at the fair using a local call center.
At a news conference on Friday, Kern County officials described the measure as part of a comprehensive plan that will eventually encompass all vaccine distributors in California. Kern County is part of the first wave of counties that will be added to the MyTurn system. While only the fairgrounds will be included in the system next week, explained Kern County Public Health Services Director Brynn Carrigan, soon consultations for all vaccines in the county will go through the website.
“Eventually, all of our vaccination providers will be on MyTurn and it will be a one-stop shop for residents to go and find out where consultations are available and who is eligible,” she said. “All of our suppliers will not be on MyTurn next week, however, that should happen very soon.”
The municipality plans to call individuals who received the first dose of the vaccine at the fair site between February 3 and Saturday to schedule the second dose. Those who do not receive a call within a week after the end of the second dose should call 321-3000.
With the change in the platform, there was some confusion about whether people in the expanded eligibility categories will be able to apply for consultations. Public Health Services warned on Friday that MyTurn has not yet allowed the expanded group of workers to sign up, a flaw that county officials hope will be fixed soon.
The distribution of the vaccine has been observed with interest by residents of Kern County, in the hope that life will return to normal soon. But supply has been hampered by slow implementation, leaving many who are eligible to receive the vaccine unable to register for consultations.
So far, Kern County has received 96,600 doses of the vaccine, with 93,097 administered to residents on Friday morning. Carrigan said the number was underestimated because doses administered by the county health department have not yet been reflected in state data.
“Kern is ready, with a flood of community providers begging for vaccines, to vaccinate our community,” she said, noting that the county was able to deliver 45,000 vaccines a week, but could not because it received a limited supply of vaccine from the state .
Kern County now receives 1.6% of the state’s vaccine quota, a figure that is expected to rise to 2.9% next week. Still, at the current rate, it would take 11 weeks to vaccinate only those 65 and older.
“I understand that there is a demand from our public for this vaccine,” said managing director Ryan Alsop during the news conference. “We understand that many of you want to be vaccinated now. We have done our best to complete this job with the limited supplies we received. “
He encouraged Kern County residents to “hold on” while the county works to increase its vaccine quota.
But the problems continued even when more and more doses were received. Approximately 6,000 doses that the county was due to receive last week were withheld because of the extreme weather in various parts of the country, causing delays and cancellations of appointments.
You can contact Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415. You can also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC.