Officials across Southern California are still opening websites to administer coronavirus vaccine. But there are concerns that vaccine shortages could worsen before they get better.
Authorities said the biggest problem right now is enough vaccination to meet demand. At the current rate, it could be June before Californians 65 and older are fully vaccinated. And full vaccination in places like LA County may not be possible until 2022.
Dr Paul Simon, chief science officer of the public health department, said on Friday that if the weekly vaccines were to rise to 500,000 doses, the province could potentially immunize 75% of its adult population.
At the current rate, he said the “vaccination effort is likely to last until 2022.”
Another bottleneck arose because part of the supply of available shots was reserved for second doses within the prescribed time frame of three or four weeks. If there are deficiencies, there are fewer shots available for the first doses of the vaccine.
This is certainly the case in LA County, where Simon said Friday that he thinks a majority of the offer will go for second doses next week. ‘
“There will be some first doses offered, but we want to be very careful because unfortunately we can not predict the supply chain even a few weeks ahead,” he said.
Simon admitted that there is tension between the fact that so many people want to be vaccinated with the first dose [and] to try to ensure that everyone who is vaccinated receives the full dose of two doses. ”
He added: ‘The vaccine trials were done with the two-dose regimen in mind. We know it works. We do not know exactly what protection one gets if there is a delay in the second dose. ‘
Here is where we stand:
Los angeles county
Residents 65 and older can sign up for an appointment at the Department of Public Health website. Residents without computer access can call (833) 540-0473 between 08:00 and 20:30 for assistance with bookings.
The city of Los Angeles also offers the vaccine to 65-year-olds or older another online portal. The site connects patients with mass vaccination centers, including Dodger Stadium, San Fernando Recreation Park, Lincoln Park, Hansen Dam Recreation Area and Crenshaw Christian Center.
Orange county
Orange County opens its second large-scale vaccination site COVID-19 at Soka University in Aliso Viejo on Saturday. The province has its first vaccination center at Disneyland in Anaheim.
Eventually, the province plans to operate five centers, which according to health officials are key to the goal of getting all residents vaccinated by July 4th.
For now, only health workers, residents of long-term care institutions and people aged 65 and over are eligible to be vaccinated at the centers.
But the increase in vaccinations has been hampered by supply problems. The province is dependent on the state for its share of the vaccine doses and has asked for more daily, officials said.
San diego county
After a slow start to the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine in San Diego County, the region has received 173,000 doses over the past few days, coinciding with the launch of a mass vaccination in Chula Vista on Thursday.
Sharp HealthCare will operate the site, which is located in a former Sears department store, seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Provincial supervisor Nora Vargas said 1,800 people made appointments on Thursday, and a Sharp representative added that the site would vaccinate 5,000 people a day by next week.
This is the second attempt of its kind in the country. According to Christopher Longhurst, chief information officer at UCSD Health, the first, managed by UC San Diego at the Petco Park backyard parking lot, vaccinated more than 35,000 people.
Unlike the premises near Petco Park, the Chula Vista location will walk in rather than drive through, although appointments are required. It is the first vaccine in the South Bay, which was still beaten hard by the pandemic. National City and Chula Vista have the highest and third highest coronavirus infection rates among the provinces’ cities, respectively.
Domestic Empire
Information for Riverside County residents can be found at the Riverside University Health System, while San Bernardino County residents province website. Both provinces offer vaccines with different restrictions in different places.
Ventura County
Ventura County offers vaccinations to residents 75 years and older, who may sign up online for appointments or by calling (805) 477-7151.