The county’s newest super vaccination post opened Friday morning at Del Mar Fairgrounds for a test of about 288 patients, the same day that a missed shipment of the Modern vaccine raised concerns across the county about the reduction supplies.
Also on Friday, the state announced that, starting March 15, vaccinations will be available to a larger group of people, including those 64 and under with cancer, obesity and other underlying diseases.
Vaccinations will slow down for the time being in San Diego County because of limited supply and, in some cases, consultations will have to be rescheduled. The largest site in the county, UC San Diego Health Petco Super Station, will not deliver vaccines on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, and appointments will automatically be rescheduled via UCSD’s MyChart, officials said.
Second doses will continue to be the priority in all locations. The South County and East County superstores have enough supplies to survive on Monday, and the North County superstore in San Marcos has enough supplies to meet second dose appointments and a limited supply of first doses.
Nathan Fletcher, chairman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, said Friday afternoon that the break, while unwanted, is not entirely unexpected.
“We are facing a situation with a very erratic and unstable supply chain and we knew that situations like this, although we tried to avoid them, are bound to happen,” said Fletcher.
Even when the current situation with Moderna resolves, he noted, the need for second doses by those who have already received the first doses is likely to produce a situation in which few first dose consultations are available.
“There is a very real likelihood, in the coming weeks, given the current supply we are receiving, that there will be a period of time when there will be very few first dose appointments available,” said Fletcher.
California officials said on Friday that people aged 16 to 64 who are disabled or at high risk of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality will be eligible to be vaccinated starting next month.
The move comes after weeks of debate over who will get to the front of the line for precious doses, which remain in short supply. Officials estimate that the move will make 4 million to 6 million people eligible for the vaccine, bringing the total number of eligible Californians to between 17 million and 20 million, or about half the state.
Ultimately, it will be up to local providers to decide who gets the vaccine immediately, with medical professionals, first responders, people aged 65 and over, teachers and essential professionals, all competing for vaccines.
All vaccines were delivered as planned in about an hour on opening day, Friday, at the Del Mar Fairgrounds superstore administered by Scripps Health using the Pfizer vaccine.
Another 588 drive-thru patients are scheduled there on Saturday and again on Sunday. Scripps officials said they hope to gradually increase in the coming weeks to inoculate up to 5,000 people a day on the fair grounds, if sufficient vaccine is available.
“This has been more efficient, I must say,” said Teresa McKethan, 66, a La Jolla resident who drove in her Toyota SUV. “There were no complications of any kind.”
She had tried several times to get an appointment on the Petco Park website, without success. When she saw on Thursday that consultations were available at the fairgrounds, she went online and scheduled her Friday visit and the second follow-up dose.
“People are very happy,” said Michelle Meyer, a registered nurse and employee of Scripps, 22. The fair site is the third vaccination post she helped set up.
“I have a lot of people who cry … thank you so much for just being here,” she said. Some have said it is the first time they have left home since the pandemic began, and for them it is a sign that things may be returning to normal.
Vaccines are administered inside the Wyland Center, a cavernous building used for exhibitions during the San Diego County Fair.
Scripps Health CEO Chris Van Gorder inoculates Christian Dollahon, 66, of Oceanside with the Pfizer vaccine on Friday at the new drive-thru location at Del Mar Fairgrounds.
(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The cars enter the building and are divided into nine separate lanes, each with three stations handling shots. A nurse asks some questions and checks for allergies or medical conditions. The whole process takes about five minutes.
Then, each vehicle receives a stopwatch in a plastic bag placed on the hood, and then the driver is instructed to drive to the parking lot and wait there. The timer starts in 15 minutes and, unless there is a medical reaction, a volunteer picks up the timer and the driver is free to leave.
Continued operations depend on a weekly refill of the vaccine, which is not certain, said Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of Scripps.
“We are blessed to have enough now for the next few days,” said Van Gorder.
San Diego County receives a new supply every Tuesday, he said, but vaccination posts don’t know each week how much of the vaccine will be available. In addition, the state requires locals to use any vaccine they receive and not save it for a second dose.
In recent weeks, supply of the vaccine has been more restricted, and Friday Scripps has had to return some of its supply to the county, he said.
“Each of these bottles is liquid gold,” he said. “It’s the light at the end of the tunnel for a lot of people.”
The fairground has plenty of room because of the pandemic, which forced the cancellation of all major events, including the San Diego County Fair, last year.
The possibility of opening a vaccination center on the fair ground came at a January 20 meeting with San Diego County supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, said interim fair CEO Carlene Moore.
“It has moved very quickly since then,” said Moore. “We are very proud to be partners” with the county and Scripps.
Two weeks ago, the Wyland Center was being used to store donations for the nonprofit Goodwill Industries, she said. These items were transferred to another building on the fair grounds.
The fairground has long been used for occasional emergency services and easy access to Interstate 5 is an advantage for residents across the county.
“This is what makes this facility important to the community,” said Moore.
Several times over the years, it has offered emergency shelter for people and animals during forest fires and, last April, hosted one of the county’s largest food distribution events for families affected by the pandemic.
On Friday, the county registered 817 new cases of COVID-19, 179 hospitalizations and 24 deaths. It is the fourth time in the past seven days that the number of cases has dropped below the 1,000 mark. So far, there have been no signs of a post-Super Bowl increase in cases; it usually takes 4 to 5 days for an infected person to show symptoms. Another encouraging sign: the total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the county has gradually decreased each day for the past 28 days, although a broad vaccination effort is the key to ensuring that these numbers remain low forever.
Editors Paul Sisson and Jonathan Wosen contributed to this story.