Orange County has opened three mass vaccination sites for the next level of health care professionals qualified to receive their first COVID-19 vaccine.
The Orange County Health Agency on Thursday, January 7, began administering the first doses to all personnel listed in Phase 1A, who since mid-December have targeted frontline hospital workers, residents of long-term care and first aid facilities to get your coronavirus vaccines first.
Now, the list of health professionals who can make an appointment for vaccination includes paramedics, dentists, laboratory technicians, home health professionals and pharmacists, as well as workers in nursing homes, urgent care, dialysis centers and some police officers.
“Groups were contacted by the OC Health Care Agency to schedule appointments to receive the vaccine at designated locations in Orange County,” said agency spokeswoman Jessica Good on Thursday. You must present a photo ID and professional license, an employee badge, a paycheck or a signed letter from the employer on letterhead.
A line of people meandered down the street at the North Net Training Center in Anaheim on Thursday, January 7, as they waited to receive their first doses. Other locations are in Huntington Beach and Irvine.
An estimated 900 people were shot by the end of the day, said Anaheim spokesman Mike Lyster.
The people who received the dose entered one of the 10 stations operated by paramedical teams from Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton and Orange.
After the injections, the recipients were monitored for allergic reactions, said Lyster.
“Everyone we did today, we never had any problems,” he said. “Most people just go their way.”
Lyster said the county had sent people notifications to make an appointment to receive the dose, but it turned out more than expected. But all were screened and only those eligible received the vaccination – some retirees and health workers from other counties were refused, he said.
Nominations are being emphasized in the future, said Lyster, adding that the site is expected to continue operating over the weekend.
Locations capable of accommodating large numbers of people are in progress. Anaheim officials would like to host at least one in the city, said Lyster.
“In the long run, our city will be ready to work with the county to have all kinds of locations,” he said. “All we are doing today is to prepare for later”, when the vaccine can be made available to anyone who wants to.
The county is planning, in an effort dubbed Operation Independence, for regional “Super Point-of-Dispensing” locations that can vaccinate thousands of people a day, said Orange County Council of Acting Chairman Andrew Do, in a press release on Thursday.
“The county is anticipating the need for at least five Super PODs that will be put online when they are approved, staffed and have COVID-19 vaccines available,” the statement said. The locations will be announced as soon as they are finalized.
People who received the first dose at the Anaheim training center will receive the second dose at one of these new locations, said Lyster.
The current three temporary sites have already received 6,400 doses from the Health Agency, Good said.
In Orange County, about 32,000 people were vaccinated by December 31, according to a new online screening panel.
Good said the health agency still does not know how often it will update vaccination data. “We are waiting until next week, when more robust state data is expected.”
The hesitation to be among the first to obtain a new vaccine and other logistical issues delayed the state’s initial implantation. Approximately one in three hospital employees in Orange County is deciding to skip the injection, said the director of the Health Agency and county health officer, Dr. Clayton Chau, this week.
In Orange County, the next waves of vaccination, Phases 1B and 1C, are expected to begin sometime in February, according to a detailed schedule on the Health Care Agency website. These phases so far include elderly residents and others over 16 with underlying medical conditions or disabilities that put them at high risk for a serious case of COVID-19, as well as a spectrum of essential workers.