Riverside County expects to begin the next phase of its coronavirus vaccination plan – which will include people over 74, teachers and law enforcement – “as soon as next week,” said Riverside County Department of Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari. Said Tuesday, January 12th.
So far, at least 28,708 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Riverside County, Saruwatari told the Riverside Board of Supervisors.
Under the state’s distribution plan, which uses the provinces of Riverside and San Bernardino, the next phase – Phase 1b – begins with a level that includes people aged 75 and over and essential workers in education, law enforcement, grocery stores, farms and emergency services. . .
Next in line – level 2 of phase 1b – includes persons 65-74 and essential workers in manufacturing, transport, facilities and services, as well as prisoners and the homeless.
San Bernardino County is beginning to vaccinate people in Phase 1A Level 3, which includes specialty clinics and dental clinics, before reaching Phase 1B, spokesman David Wert said Tuesday.
The province received 75,900 first doses and administered 38,770, and is on track to vaccinate another 26,940 people by the end of this week, Wert said. It received another 43,625 doses for second doses.
“Moving further will depend on incoming supplies, which is unpredictable,” Wert said.
The number in Riverside County is likely to be thousands higher than can be reported because health care providers have 72 hours to record that they have vaccinated someone, Saruwatari said.
So far, the availability of the vaccine has been the limiting factor in vaccinating more people, she said. The province is getting Pfizer and Moderna vaccinations from the state based on the population and has received enough to vaccinate the same portion of the population as other provinces in California, she said.
“Once we have enough vaccine on hand to cover those who are in phase 1a, we will go to phase 1b, even if not everyone in phase 1a has been vaccinated,” Saruwatari said. “They can still be vaccinated.”
The province has had a problem with people coming to vaccinations when they are not yet eligible to receive a vaccine, she said. Those people should then be sent away without a shot, she said.
“It leads to frustration by them, but also frustration by people who can not get the appointment that would be able to,” Saruwatari said. “… We’re just asking the public to register when they are eligible according to the phase outline on the website.”
This explanation can be found at https://www.ruhealth.org/covid-19-vaccine or https://sbcovid19.com/vaccine/.
However, the time slots are not wasted if someone who is not eligible comes to an appointment, she said.
“We do have a waiting list, so we vaccinate a lot more than we have in our vaccination clinics,” Saruwatari said.
During the same update, Bruce Barton, the province’s emergency management director, said an “unprecedented hospital generation” was continuing, with county hospitals with 91% of their licensed capacity and six hospitals in the country at or more than 100% of the licensed capacity.
Intensive care units are at 133% of capacity, or 161% if only the use of adult ICUs is considered.
“If we go through the numbers, it’s not the current environment that our healthcare providers are going through,” he says. “It is absolutely remarkable that in the midst of this unprecedented boom, they remain determined to look after our residents and visitors and find new ways to expand the capacity and sometimes make decisions that none of us as medical providers or people in the country is not. “taking care of people’s affairs thought we should do.”