After winter setbacks and shipping delays, the supply of COVID-19 vaccines in Los Angeles is increasing again, officials said.
Tuesday was the second busiest day at vaccination sites administered by the city, Mayor Eric Garcetti said during a news conference on Wednesday, with 17,572 doses administered. And while there is still a shortage, the numbers are expected to improve in the coming days and weeks.
“Although we are still not clear about the supply chain, in the next few weeks or two, simple math indicates that we should see more and more supply in the coming weeks,” said Garcetti. “So, get ready.”
The city is still mainly offering second dose consultations, but hopes to be able to “speed up first dose consultations again” from next week, said the mayor, when vaccine eligibility will expand to include education workers and daycare, food and agriculture, emergency services and law enforcement, starting Monday.
“I am looking forward to the day and I think it will arrive sooner than we can imagine – in a month, month and a half, maybe two months at the most – when I think all these layers will basically disappear,” said Garcetti, “because we are going to have a lot vaccine supply in this country ”.
As of Tuesday, the city had administered more than 367,200 doses, 90% of its stock. Mobile vaccination teams administered more than 5,300 doses, 96% of which were for people of color, said Garcetti.
Starting next week, the city will also offer Saturday hours at mobile vaccination clinics to accommodate essential workers who work Monday through Friday.
Still, other injustices continue to plague the region’s deployment, with reports emerging from people who misuse vaccine access codes for underserved black and Latino residents.
The mayor acknowledged that there are no specific consequences for line jumpers, but said that “it is not the right thing to do”.
“I would not punish someone who is simply trying to do what everyone else is doing – hoping for something that looks reliable, and [wanting] to get vaccinated, ”he said, recalling that the city has no jurisdiction over federal or state websites. “I would simply adjust, close, change the system if necessary, and that is what we did with the city’s websites.”
Across the county, COVID-19 numbers continued to drop, even as the death toll increased. Since last week, coronavirus infections have dropped 19% and hospitalizations 28%, said the mayor. Intensive care units have been at their lowest since the beginning of December.
But on Wednesday, the county reported an accumulation of more than 800 deaths during the fall and winter surge, which pushed the state past the bleak 50,000 COVID-19 deaths. The fear of new variants also continues to grow.
“The virus is still spreading every day and is still at dangerous levels,” said Garcetti, adding that vaccines, facial coverings and social distance can help save lives.
“Fortunately, vaccine production is increasing significantly,” he said. “I said it once, and I will say it again: give us the supply and we will vaccinate everyone in July.”