The COVID-19 vaccine site at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, along with four other locations in the city, will be temporarily closed due to massive shortages, Mayor Eric Garcetti
Eric GarcettiLos Angeles vaccination site temporarily closed by demonstrators Mayor of LA receives first dose of coronavirus vaccine after spending days at Grammys super site delayed due to concerns about coronavirus MORE (D) said.
The mayor announced on Wednesday that the city’s five walk-up and drive-through sites will close on Friday for at least two days. The sites could reopen on Tuesday or Wednesday, he predicted.
Garcetti classified the vaccine supply to the city, which is expected to run out on Thursday, as “unpredictable”, “uneven” and “unacceptable”. He noted that Los Angeles received 16,000 new doses this week, slightly more than the total administered per day. Los Angeles received 90,000 doses last week and 29,000 doses the previous week, he added.
“We are vaccinating people faster than new vials are arriving here in Los Angeles and I am very concerned now,” said the mayor during a news conference.
“This is a huge obstacle in our race to vaccinate Angelenos,” he added.
Garcetti emphasized that the second scheduled doses will not be affected, but “this will prevent us from moving on with new first doses”.
He said he did not want to “point the finger”, but noted that other cities with a population smaller than Los Angeles are receiving more doses.
“I don’t want a single dose of them, but it’s just that Los Angeles receives a constant supply to meet the moment of our need,” he added.
The city will keep open mobile sites deployed in southern Los Angeles, where a disproportionate number of residents have been infected and killed by COVID-19.
Overall, Los Angeles distributed 293,252 vaccines with an average of 13,051 inoculations daily.
Peak cases, deaths and hospitalizations in late December and early January began to stabilize in Los Angeles, according to county data.
The county has an average 7-day test positivity rate of 8.4%, lower than the 20% recorded on New Year’s Day, but still above the 5% limit that experts want to see before considering reopening.