Los Angeles County began scheduling COVID-19 vaccination appointments for residents age 65 and older on Tuesday, advancing an effort that should not begin until February, but limited vaccine supplies and uncertainty about future allocations have left the vaccination effort involved in doubts.
County public health director Barbara Ferrer said there are adequate vaccine supplies for this week’s consultations – about 50,000 of them in public places – but the county has no idea how many more doses it will receive next week.
“One of the problems that everyone has regarding the allocation and distribution of the federal government is that it has been happening week by week, which makes it difficult for our sites to do a lot of planning and really makes it difficult to extend commitments beyond a few days, which makes it difficult for the audience, “she said.
Ferrer and county supervisor Hilda Solis pinned their hopes on
The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday, saying that the
Donald Trump’s administration has been less than transparent about the vaccine
distribution.
“Tomorrow, the new federal administration takes over and we hope that our situation will improve a lot,” said Solis.
According to Ferrer, by the end of last week, the municipality had received 685 thousand doses of vaccines, and more than 70% of them have already been administered. The municipality is expected to receive a total of 168,000 doses on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
Solis announced on Monday night that he had signed an executive order making doses of COVID-19 available to residents aged 65 and over. The announcement marked a major policy shift, as Ferrer and other health officials previously insisted that the county needs to finish inoculating health workers before offering limited vaccine supplies to the general public.
Eligibility opens on Wednesday for residents aged 65 and over who are receiving COVID-19 vaccines. Patrick Healy reported on NBC4 News on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
Ferrer on Tuesday downplayed any perceived internal conflict or difference of opinion, saying that she did not regard Solis’ executive order as a “cancellation by the Department of Public Health”. Ferrer said the county has made tremendous progress in vaccinating health workers, and she acknowledged the need to vaccinate older residents – who are at the greatest risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 – even in the midst of scarcity. vaccine stock.
“It is always difficult when you are operating in scarcity, but I appreciate the need for us to be aware of moving as quickly as possible to get those at high risk, and I think that is what the strategy has allowed us to do, ” she said.
Although Solis initially said the vaccine would be made available to people aged 65 and over starting on Thursday, officials said those appointments would actually start on Wednesday.
People who want to schedule appointments can do so online at vaccinateLAcounty.com. People without a computer or the Internet can call 833-540-0473 to make appointments. Authorities have asked people to use the online system as much as possible, as there will likely be long waits on the phone line.
But demand for the vaccine has apparently outpaced the online marking system’s ability to handle the load. Shortly after county officials formally announced the nominations website on Tuesday afternoon, it broke. County officials announced on Twitter that the site and the hotline were “receiving thousands of calls and users and experiencing technical difficulties.”
Some web users reported that they were unable to access the system. Others received a message that the site was undergoing maintenance, while others were able to initiate the process only to be expelled from the system and forced to restart.
County officials said they were working to resolve the problems.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced the revised vaccination guidelines earlier this month, allowing jurisdictions to offer vaccines to people aged 65 and over. This group was originally in several stages down the vaccine priority list.
While many jurisdictions, including Orange County and the city of Long Beach, quickly began offering injections to older residents, Los Angeles County resisted, saying it still had about 500,000 health workers who needed to be vaccinated.
But with progress being made on that front, Solis said it was critical to start offering vaccines to vulnerable older residents.
“We know that COVID-19 has been particularly difficult for those 65 and older,” said Solis. “Just look at our numbers. More than 99,000 residents aged 65 and over have been infected with COVID-19; 30,000 of residents aged 65 and over have been hospitalized because of COVID-19; and tragically, 9,802 residents in this age group died of COVID-19. That is among 14,000 people who died.
“… It’s about equity,” she said. “Older adults were unfairly affected by the virus. They stayed at home for months, isolated, which is, as you know, a problem in itself. The COVID-19 vaccine has arrived. Hope has arrived. Soon, our residents will be able to return to a life where they can visit their grandchildren, go hiking with friends, volunteer at a local community kitchen, and even come to the LA County Fair at the Fairplex, since we are
back to normal. “
Concerns about the vaccine’s availability were exacerbated this week when the state epidemiologist warned providers to stop administering doses of a batch of 330,000 modern vaccines in response to allergic reactions suffered by a handful of people in San Diego.
“A greater than normal number of possible allergic reactions has been reported with a specific batch of Moderna vaccine administered at a community vaccination clinic,” said state epidemiologist, Dr. Erica S. Pan, in a statement at the end of the Sunday. “Less than 10 individuals required medical attention during the 24-hour period. Out of extreme caution and also recognizing the extremely limited supply of vaccine, we are recommending that providers use another available vaccine inventory and pause the administration of vaccines from Moderna Lot 041L20A until the investigation by CDC, FDA, Moderna and the state is complete. We will provide an update as we learn more. ”
San Diego County health officials confirmed last week that half a dozen health workers who were vaccinated at the vaccination center in Petco Park have suffered allergic reactions.
These 330,000 doses of the Modern vaccine that are no longer available represent 10% of all vaccines received by the state so far – harming counties like Los Angeles, which have been requesting more vaccine allocations to meet demand.
Los Angeles County opened five large-scale vaccine sites on Tuesday – in Six Flags Magic Mountain, Cal State Northridge, the Pomona Fairplex, the LA County Department of Education in Downey and the Inglewood Forum. The sites will be able to vaccinate 4,000 people each day – depending on the availability of the vaccine.