“In the coming week, most visits to our vaccination sites will continue to be for second doses,” said Dr. Paul Simon, director of sciences for the county’s Department of Public Health, on Friday. “We will only be providing second doses on our Mega-POD Sites (distribution point). ”
County-operated Mega-PODs are at Pomona Fairplex, Magic Mountain, at the Forum, at the County Education Office in Downey and Cal State Northridge.
He said that the first doses will be available in other locations, mainly in health centers, pharmacies “and other providers that serve the areas most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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Due to the lack of doses, places administered by the city, such as Dodger Stadium, Hansen Dam, Crenshaw Clinic, San Fernando Clinic and Lincoln Park Clinic, are temporarily closed. The city ran out of vaccines at the end of last week, and city-run venues are expected to reopen on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The county has received about 200,000 doses per week, although the actual amount varies enormously from week to week, making it difficult to plan reservations in advance. Supplies were so limited this week that the city of Los Angeles was forced to close the Dodger Stadium vaccination site and four other sites over the weekend because it ran out of supplies on Thursday afternoon.
“We share their frustration,” said Simon. “We are all frustrated. We know that we could do much more if we had more doses. For example, we are now receiving around 200,000 doses per week and, as we surveyed all of our providers, we are confident that we could administer up to 600,000 doses per week. So we will have much, much more capacity if we can get the vaccine available. ”
Simon and county health officer Dr. Muntu Davis said that increasing supplies will be critical as more people become eligible for injections – noting that the state plans to expand eligibility next month for all 16-year-olds. years or older who have underlying medical conditions or disabilities that make them highly susceptible to death or serious COVID illnesses.
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Davis acknowledged the general trend of improvement in daily cases, but emphasized that, while the numbers are improving, they are still high and “the risk of finding someone with COVID-19 who may not know it is still very high”. ‘
The county reported another 137 deaths from COVID on Friday, while health officials in Long Beach announced 14 deaths and Pasadena one, bringing the total death toll to 18,804.
Another 3,497 new cases were also confirmed by the county, along with 124 for Long Beach and 29 for Pasadena, bringing the cumulative total for the entire pandemic to 1,161,926.
The county also reported another 15 cases of multisystemic inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, bringing the grand total to 90, including one death. Health officials noted that there was a 35% increase in the number of MIS-C infections locally in the past two weeks. The syndrome usually develops in children after having COVID-19, although it has occasionally affected patients with no known previous infection.
According to state data, there were 3,426 people hospitalized in the municipality because of COVID until Friday, with 1,032 people in intensive care. In early January, there were more than 8,000 people hospitalized due to the virus.
“So there is positive news in terms of things that are going on,” said Davis. “We want it to continue to fall because, as the numbers of cases drop, we enter less restrictive levels and we can consider opening more economies … and having less restrictive modifications. ”
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He urged people to continue adhering to protocols such as masking and physical detachment. He acknowledged the changes that were formalized this week, allowing the resumption of closed religious services with limited capacity and activity limits during services. But he emphasized that, despite the change, “it is still safer for places of worship to conduct outdoor and remote services. These are the safest options for those at high risk of serious illnesses caused by COVID-19 and those who live with them”.
Davis also expressed dismay at the plans of Sun Valley’s Grace Community Church – which has repeatedly defied county and court orders by holding massive internal ceremonies – to host an internal religious conference in early March that normally attracts more than 3,000 people. He said the county was “exploring its options” to challenge the event. Such conferences are prohibited by health restrictions, but it is not clear whether the conflict would be exempt from a religious meeting.
On Friday night, however, the church announced that it chose to postpone the conference in light of its “ongoing litigation and recent county and state threats over the planned event.
In terms of vaccines, Simon said that the latest figures show 1,345,949 doses administered in the municipality, 1,047,074 of which are first doses. A total of 13.5% of the county’s population aged 16 or older received at least one dose and 3.8% of that population is fully vaccinated.
The City News Service contributed to this report.
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