As of December, California has faced a dramatic increase in cases of viruses concentrated in the south of the state and in its main agricultural region, the Central Valley, in addition to the spread of a new local strain that may be more transmissible.
California now leads the country in cases and deaths. Infections peaked around the holiday and have declined since mid-January, but deaths remain at record levels.
Garcetti said hospitalizations in Los Angeles dropped to about 3,700 on Wednesday, the lowest number in months.
City officials said one of the main problems that led to scarcity was the unpredictability of dose distribution. The city does not have its own public health department and receives doses from the municipality, but uncertainty at the municipal, state and federal levels about how many doses are coming in a week has hampered long-term planning.
“We don’t know what we’re going to get,” said Christopher Covino, who helps oversee the distribution of vaccines for Garcetti. “Think of it as an income. If I don’t know how much money I will make next week, what should I buy? If you are planning your life around this, it is impossible. And if you’re planning an entire mass vaccination program, in which you’re trying to vaccinate 20,000 people a day, that’s a problem. “
Dodger Stadium was one of several mass vaccination sites to open in stadiums and convention centers across the country. Sites typically distribute doses to thousands in a drive-through format, allowing people to stay in their vehicles. But the mass vaccine model encountered supply, technical and logistical problems. In Dallas, city officials struggled with technical problems with their nomination registration system that led people to be turned down at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
Two mass vaccination centers in Arizona, at State Farm Stadium and Phoenix Municipal Stadium, were not at risk of running out of vaccine, but officials were limiting appointments at the sites based on early delivery of Pfizer vaccine, said a spokesman from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Despite concerns about scarcity, Los Angeles will continue its mobile vaccination program, said Garcetti. “We cannot afford to see the outbreaks and, frankly, the uneven deaths that we are seeing in communities of color,” he said.