SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – San Diego County will prioritize vaccinating health workers in the region before residents 65 and older, after the state has expanded those eligible for a vaccine for the elderly.
Before Wednesday, anyone 75 and older would become eligible for Phase 1B in California. Wednesday, the state announced it would drop to 65, however, San Diego county leaders said the county is still trying to vaccinate everyone in Phase 1A, which consists of health professionals and staff.
At a news conference on Wednesday, supervisory board chairman Nathan Fletcher said the county also needs to build a large-scale distribution system and sufficient staff to administer the vaccines. There are plans to add super vaccination sites in South Bay, North County and East County.
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“The total number of vaccines that we know of, which reached San Diego County, is just 200,000 … but the number of San Diegans that are at level 1A is 620,000. Two doses are also needed for any of these people should be fully vaccinated. And so we were just starting the process of going through level 1A with healthcare professionals and we had a long way to go, “said Fletcher. “There are approximately half a million San Diegans aged 65 and over. If you add these two categories, you can see that well over a million people are being informed that they are now eligible for a vaccine that no California county has available for. give them. “
Fletcher said that vaccination sites administered by the county will continue to prioritize vaccination for health professionals. He added that health systems that have the vaccine will have the ability to vaccinate residents 65 and older if they have sufficient doses.
Scripps Health, Sharp Healthcare and Kaiser said they are still working with eligible healthcare professionals in Phase 1A. Scripps Health issued a statement that said, in part, no San Diego hospital received vaccines to distribute to patients and discouraged them from immediately calling their healthcare providers to get a vaccine:
“Scripps Health is aware that the California authorities have allowed residents aged 65 and over to qualify for the COVID-19 vaccination. However, none of the San Diego hospitals have received the vaccination at this time to begin distribution to their patients. , and we’re waiting to hear from the government about when to expect them. Scripps asks our patients to wait for our response and we promise to keep you fully informed. At this point, don’t call Scripps’s doctor’s office as they don’t know when the vaccines will be available. “
Kaiser Permanente issued a similar statement, saying that the hospital system is offering vaccines only to those in Phase 1A at the moment:
“We are excited to announce that individuals aged 65 and over are now in the next group eligible to start receiving vaccines. Currently, according to state guidelines, Kaiser Permanente Southern California is offering vaccines by appointment to those in the Phase 1a: patient-oriented health care workers who are at high risk of contacting COVID-19 patients or employees of long-term care institutions: nurses, doctors, technicians, medical assistants, dentists, pharmacists, emergency medical technicians and non-clinical workers, such as food services, environmental services and administrative personnel who can contact COVID-19 patients. “
Dr. Christian B. Ramers, Head of Population Health at the Family Health Center San Diego, is also part of the group that helps guide San Diego County in determining the logistics of vaccine distribution.
Ramers said that when it was time to move to Phase 1B, the drop in age from 75 to 65 will have a big impact on the county because of how many more people are now eligible. He said that in San Diego County, there are about 200,000 people aged 75 and over and about half a million people aged 65 and over.
This increase in eligible people may not be the best, because a healthy 65 year old is now eligible at the same time as an 80 year old with health problems.
“If you open up to a bigger pool, it dilutes the effect of giving it to people who are most at risk of dying,” he said.
Despite slower-than-desired implantation, San Diego County has set a goal to administer 250,000 vaccines by the end of the month.
According to Fletcher, there are about 2.7 million San Diegans aged 16 and over who can receive the current COVID-19 vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health set a goal for each county to achieve 70% vaccination for that group by July 1, 2021 – or about 1.9 million San Diegans. This would require about 3.8 million doses, two for each person.
To achieve this goal, Fletcher says the county would need to vaccinate 23,434 people a day from February 1 to the end of June.
“It all depends on the arrival of vaccines, something that is completely and totally out of our control,” said Fletcher.
On Monday, San Diego County received 241,825 doses, not including private entities that may also have the vaccine. As of Tuesday, a total of 92,305 doses have been administered, including the first and second doses.
But Fletcher warned that, due to the delay – of a few weeks – in the notification of vaccination numbers to the county, that number is believed to be much higher.
To meet demand, the county is planning to meet that future demand with a combination of distribution events, sites and teams. This week, a “super vaccination station” was opened near Petco Park with the goal of administering 6,000 doses per day until February.
By February, the county expects to be able to deliver 18,686 doses of COVID-19 to eligible recipients daily through a combination of delivery methods.
Fletcher added that San Diego County will be a pilot county for a new state system for residents to register and be notified when they are eligible for a vaccine. This system is expected to be launched next week.
Ramers added that as more people become eligible, it will be important for residents to keep up with the latest information. He advises people to know at what stage they become eligible and watch the news to see who is standing. When your turn comes, the goal is to have plenty of resources for where to get vaccinated.
“The idea is that we want an approach with no wrong doors. So, if you get the notification and can go to a mass vaccination station in Petco Park, go ahead and do that. Okay. If you’re in with your own doctor and your own doctors’ offices have vaccines ready to give you, go ahead and do it, “said Ramers.
Ramers said the hospital staff is already overwhelmed with caring for patients with coronavirus and doing tests, so there is a great need for volunteers to help distribute the vaccines. All doctors, dentists, nurses, paramedics and paramedics are invited to volunteer to help distribute vaccines.
On Wednesday, San Diego County reported 3,261 new COVID-19 infections and 54 additional deaths, bringing the region’s total to 201,580 cases and 1,952 deaths.