SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – On Saturday, San Diego County will move to the next level of vaccination and allow about half a million residents to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
The county will expand the list of eligible COVID-19 vaccines to include educators, police and food and agriculture workers. Residents aged 65 and over have already received the vaccine as part of the first level in Phase 1B.
Teacher vaccinations will play a crucial role in many school district plans to bring students back to campus. The county says 20% of vaccines will be reserved for transitional kindergarten through 12th grade teachers and staff. Employees can access VEBAvaccinates.com to sign up for the latest updates.
For others who are eligible to receive the vaccine, the process will still be the same. They will need to log on to the county website and make an appointment.
The county is sharing the responsibility for vaccinating additional groups between different agencies:
- TK-12 educator vaccinations will be administered by the San Diego County Office of Education and the California School Volunteer Employee Benefits Association (VEBA). All others eligible in this group will go to the county’s vaccination website to schedule an appointment. (DETAILS ON ELIGIBILITY)
- Vaccination for emergency workers will also be done through the county’s website. Scripps Health will provide help to vaccinate the authorities. (DETAILS ON ELIGIBILITY)
- Vaccination for food and agriculture categories will be carried out on the municipality’s website. CAL FIRE will be helping to vaccinate rural workers on the spot. (DETAILS ON ELIGIBILITY)
But the chairman of the county council of supervisors, Nathan Fletcher, said that qualified residents need to be patient.
“We will be opening vaccines for about half a million San Diegans,” said Fletcher. “There will be no half a million consultations available on Saturday, Sunday or Monday or in the coming weeks.”
According to the municipality’s vaccination chart, by Friday, about 20.2% of residents have already received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 8.7% have already been fully vaccinated.
The addition of more San Diegans comes before the expansion of the vaccine’s eligibility status on March 15, which will add certain people who are at high risk of morbidity and mortality if they are diagnosed with COVID-19:
- Cancer, current with weakened or immunocompromised status
- Chronic kidney disease, stage 4 or higher
- Chronic, oxygen-dependent lung disease
- Down’s syndrome
- Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) of solid organ transplantation
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell anemia
- Cardiac conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies (excludes hypertension) Severe obesity (Body Mass Index ≥ 40 kg / m2)
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus with hemoglobin A1c level greater than 7.5%
Persons with developmental disabilities or other serious, high-risk disabilities may also be eligible, as listed here.