The launch of the COVID-19 vaccine for Los Angeles County residents aged 65 and over was marked by confusion and frustration.
On Tuesday, older residents started signing up for consultations. But the process got off to a rough start and will take time to vaccinate everyone in this group.
Here’s what we know now:
1. The basics
Residents aged 65 and over can sign up for an appointment on the county’s public health department website, vaccinatelacounty.com. Residents without access to a computer can call (833) 540-0473 between 8 am and 8:30 pm for help with reservations.
The city of Los Angeles is also offering the vaccine to anyone in Los Angeles County aged 65 or over, through a different online portal. This site connects patients to sites, including Dodger Stadium, San Fernando Recreation Park, Lincoln Park, Hansen Dam and Crenshaw Christian Center.
Orange County residents can apply using the Othena app. Information for Riverside County residents can be found on the Riverside University Health System, while San Bernardino County residents can find vaccine information on the county’s website. Ventura County is offering vaccines to residents aged 75 and over who can apply for online appointments.
2. Overcoming has been a challenge
Many who tried to contact the LA County call center on Tuesday afternoon to make an appointment reported that their calls had been disconnected after the recorded messages in English and Spanish had been replayed. Residents said the sites to sign up have crashed repeatedly, and the language saying that only health workers could be vaccinated was confusing.
“VaccinateLACounty.comThe reservation system is linked to the California state system, which crashed for several hours on Tuesday afternoon, ”the county said in a tweet on Tuesday night. “However, thousands of people have been able to schedule vaccination appointments and, at the moment, there are no more times available at county locations.”
The county will add more workers to its call center, which was also overloaded, and will likely add more vaccine appointment times later this week.
3. There are limited supplies
It will take some time to vaccinate the 1.3 million LA county residents in the group aged 65 and over, especially since supplies of the vaccine are still limited.
Authorities do not expect a significant jump in the amount of COVID-19 vaccines that the county receives in its weekly distribution in the near future, said Dr. Seira Kurian, director of the Medical Affairs Division of the LA County Department of Health.
Kurian said the authorities initially thought the federal government had vaccine stocks that would be delivered to counties to increase supplies when municipalities started to administer second doses.
“But as it’s not clear how much, if any, of these reserves are available, what’s likely to happen is that we’re probably not going to see a big increase in the number of doses coming into us every week, but we’re hoping we’ll still be getting the doses of vaccine at the current rate and current levels, at least for the short [term], ”Said Kurian.
Since December, the municipality has received 685,000 doses of vaccines, and more than 70% of them have been administered by the end of last week, according to the Public Health Secretariat. The county will receive an additional 168,000 doses this week.
Public health director Barbara Ferrer told a news conference on Tuesday afternoon that LA County could run out of doses early next week.
4. Patience is still needed
There are still some health professionals and first responders who need vaccines, which will slow down the speed at which people over 65 can get their doses.
After that, the state drew up a schedule of who will get the vaccine below:
Phase 1B
- People at risk of exposure at work in the following sectors: education, daycare, emergency services and food and agriculture
- People at risk of exposure at work in the following sectors: transport and logistics; industrial, commercial, residential and shelter facilities and services; critical manufacturing
- Gather environments with outbreak risks, such as incarcerated and homeless people
Phase 1C
- Individuals aged 50 to 64
- Persons aged 16 to 49 with an underlying health condition or disability that increases the risk of severe COVID-19
- People at risk of exposure at work in the following sectors: water and sewage; defense; energy; chemical and hazardous materials; communications and IT; financial services; government operations and essential community-based functions
The timing of this group is not yet clear.