The county’s growing vaccine distribution network is now capable of delivering more than 20,000 doses every day, but county officials said on Wednesday that only about half of that capacity will be available soon due to a continuing incompatibility between the vaccine supply and demand.
There are simply not enough doses for everyone, no matter how many clinics they open in the region.
Nathan Fletcher, chairman of the county council of supervisors, worked to set expectations during his weekly update on COVID-19, reminding the public that the pace of vaccination is dictated by doses, not desire.
“We just went beyond providing vaccines … as a county, we can only give what we receive,” said Fletcher. “The supply of vaccines has not kept pace with our ability to build infrastructure to manage them.”
The situation, in which newly chosen appointments are snapped up moments after appearing on scheduling sites, has been exhausting for the elderly who are finding they need to reload continuously, hour after hour, to have any chance of booking a place on the vaccination calendar. .
And it is likely to get worse in the coming weeks, as the thousands of San Diego County residents who received their first doses in January are expected to receive their second doses, which should be received 21 or 28 days after the first doses take action. So far, the local health department, following the leadership of the federal government, has given priority to administering as many first doses as possible, using all the supplies received as quickly as possible and without holding anything in the freezer for seconds.
These second doses, then, will need to come from new vaccine shipments as soon as they arrive. Fletcher said on Wednesday that second nominations will have to be prioritized over first ones in the future.
“The basic intention is that we honor the second dose consultations first and then, with what is left, we will do the first dose consultations,” said Fletcher.
With more than 100,000 people vaccinated in January, there may soon be a point, then, when all, or a very large part, of the new doses received will be allocated to those who should receive a second dose, which means that the scarce markings for the first dose are about to become even more rare.
The county has a little more leeway in allocating second doses than was initially indicated.
Although the recommended waiting periods are 21 days for the Pfizer vaccine – 28 days for Moderna – the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clarified in a bulletin released on January 21 that the second doses, in cases where the recommended interval is “unfeasible,” may be “scheduled for administration within 6 weeks (42 days) after the first dose. “
Going beyond six weeks, says the CDC, may require restarting the two-dose series to achieve full immunity.
So far, the county has said it will schedule second appointments about seven days ahead of schedule according to the original dosing schedule of three weeks to one month. Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s director of public health, said circumstances will dictate whether the county changes its stance, pushing second doses closer to the six-week mark.
“It can be a combination of both; depends on vaccine supply, ”said Wooten.
Supply restrictions continue to pit groups of people against each other.
Local law enforcement agencies and teachers have repeatedly demanded that they be vaccinated sooner or later. But they remained in a category of “essential worker” behind health professionals and those 65 and older. Fletcher defended the county’s continued adherence to the state’s increasingly controversial vaccination schedule, noting that, in a pandemic, health professionals are a vital resource that must be preserved, including those who may not work in hospitals, but are still qualified to deliver vaccines.
“Our elderly account for 90 percent of our deaths (and) most hospitalizations,” said Fletcher. “For an elderly person, COVID-19 can be a death sentence, so now, we are serving the elderly.”
He said that while police, teachers and many others have jobs with an above average risk of infection, age remains the best indicator of serious COVID complications.
“We don’t believe it would make sense to take a senior off the line and replace him with a young, healthy worker,” said Fletcher.
Earlier in the day, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the RingCentral Coliseum, also known as Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, will be the first of 100 federal vaccination centers in the country, receiving an extra allocation of vaccine in addition to the state’s basic supply, this will allow the inoculation of about 6,000 people per day. Another such center is planned for Cal State University in Los Angeles.
Fletcher said the municipality has requested a federal center, but is not likely to make the cut because it already has four super vaccination posts and a total of 19 vaccination sites already up and running.
“I don’t see them doing it here because of the work we’ve already done,” said Fletcher.
The supervisor said he recently spoke with a Blue Shield representative about San Diego’s vaccination infrastructure. Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente were hired by the state to take over the logistics of vaccine distribution across the state, which Newsom estimated at about 1 million doses this week.
Fletcher said his conversation with the Blue Shield representative put him at ease, as not all efforts invested in the current county distribution system would be in vain.
“They are still working to come up with a general approach to distribution, but have communicated that they would work with the county and support the efforts we have put in place to be more effective,” said Fletcher. “I am optimistic that nothing negative will come of this agreement.”