Riverside County hopes to start the next phase of its coronavirus vaccination plan – which will include people over 74, teachers and law enforcement officers – “as early as next week,” said Kim Saruwatari, director of the Department of Public Health Riverside County on Tuesday, January 12th.
So far, at least 28,708 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Riverside County, Saruwatari told the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.
According to the state’s distribution plan, which Riverside and San Bernardino counties are using, the next phase – Phase 1b – begins at a level that includes people aged 75 and over and essential frontline education workers, police, supermarkets, farms and emergency services.
Next in line – Phase 1b Level 2 – includes people aged 65 to 74 and essential frontline workers in manufacturing, transportation, facilities and services, as well as incarcerated and homeless people.
San Bernardino County is starting to vaccinate people at Level 3 of Phase 1A, which includes specialist clinics and dental clinics, before reaching Phase 1B, spokesman David Wert said on Tuesday.
The county has received 75,900 first doses received and administered 38,770 administered, and is on track to vaccinate an additional 26,940 people by the end of this week, Wert said. He received another 43,625 doses for the second doses.
“Going further will depend on incoming supplies, which are unpredictable,” said Wert.
Riverside County’s number is probably several thousand higher than what can be reported, because health professionals have 72 hours to register that they vaccinated someone, Saruwatari said.
So far, the limiting factor in vaccinating more people has been the availability of the vaccine, she said. The county receives Pfizer and Moderna vaccines from the state based on its population, and has received enough to vaccinate the same portion of its residents as other California counties, she said.
“Once we have enough vaccine to cover those in Phase 1a, we will move on to Phase 1b, even if everyone in Phase 1a has not been vaccinated,” said Saruwatari. “They will still be eligible to be vaccinated.”
The county has had problems with people attending vaccination appointments when they are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine, she said. These people then need to be fired without a shot, she said.
“This leads to frustration, but also to people who do not get the appointment they should get,” said Saruwatari. “… We only ask the public to register when they are really eligible according to the details of the phases on the website.”
This division can be found at https://www.ruhealth.org/covid-19-vaccine or https://sbcovid19.com/vaccine/.
However, time slots are not missed if someone ineligible shows up for an appointment, she said.
“We have a waiting list, so we vaccinate much more than places in our vaccination clinics,” said Saruwatari.
During the same update, Bruce Barton, the county’s director of emergency management, said an “unprecedented wave of hospitals” continued, with county hospitals at 91% of their licensed capacity and six county hospitals at or above 100 % of licensed capacity.
Intensive care units are at 133% capacity, or 161% when looking only at adult ICU use, he said.
“Analyzing the numbers just doesn’t capture the current environment that our healthcare professionals are going through,” he said. “It is absolutely remarkable that, in the midst of this unprecedented increase, they remain determined to care for our residents and visitors and find new ways to expand capabilities and, at times, make decisions that none of us as medical service providers or people in the ‘taking care of people’ we thought we would have to do it ”.