Los Angeles County began planning COVID-19 vaccinations for residents 65 and older on Tuesday, with an effort expected to begin only in February, but the limited amount of vaccine and uncertainty about future grants cast doubt on the vaccination effort let sit.
The province’s director of public health, Barbara Ferrer, said there were enough vaccine supplies to get through the week’s appointments – about 50,000 of them in public – but the country has no idea how many doses it will take next week. do not get.
“One of the problems everyone has had around the allocation and distribution of the federal government is that it’s week-to-week, which makes it difficult for our sites to plan a lot, and it’s really hard to figure out. “extending appointments longer than a few days, which makes it difficult for the public,” she said.
Ferrer and provincial supervisor Hilda Solis both settled their hopes
Wednesday’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden with the outgoing
Donald Trump administration was less than transparent about vaccine
distribution.
“Tomorrow the new federal government will take over, and we expect our situation to improve a lot,” Solis said.
According to Ferrer, the province received 685,000 doses by the end of last week, and more than 70% of them were administered. The province is expected to receive a total of 168,000 doses on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
Solis announced Monday night that she has signed an executive order to make COVID-19 shots available to residents 65 and older. The announcement was a major policy shift, as Ferrer and other health officials had previously insisted that the province vaccinate health workers before offering limited vaccine supplies to members of the general public.
Suitability opens Wednesday for residents 65 and older receiving COVID-19 vaccines. Patrick Healy reported on NBC4 News on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
Ferrer on Tuesday dismissed a minor internal conflict or disagreement, saying she did not view Solis’ executive order as “dominating the public health department”. Ferrer said the province has made tremendous progress in getting health workers vaccinated. , and she recognizes the need to vaccinate older residents – who are at higher risk for serious illness and death from COVID-19 – even in the midst of rare vaccinations.
‘It’s always difficult when you’re barely working, but I appreciate the need for us to pay attention to moving forward as quickly as possible to get those at high risk, and I think that’s what the strategy enabled us to do. has to do, ” she said.
Although Solis initially said that vaccine would be made available to people 65 and older on Thursday, officials said the appointments would actually begin on Wednesday.
People who want to schedule appointments can do so online at vaccinateLAcounty.com. People without a computer or internet can call 833-540-0473 to make appointments. Officials have urged people to use the online system as much as possible, as there will likely be a long wait on the phone line.
But the demand for the vaccine has apparently become greater than the ability of the online appointment system to handle the load. Not long after provincial officials formally announced the appointment website on Tuesday afternoon, it crashed. Provincial officials announced on Twitter that the site and the hotline were ‘placing thousands of calls and users and experiencing technical difficulties’.
Some web users have reported that they do not have access to the system at all. Others got a message that the site is being maintained, while others could start the process just to kick out of the system and force it to start all over again.
Provincial officials said they were working to resolve the issues.
Gavin Newsom’s government announced revised vaccination guidelines earlier this month, allowing jurisdictions to offer vaccines to people 65 and older. The group was originally several steps in the priority list for vaccines.
While many jurisdictions, including Orange County and the city of Long Beach, quickly began offering shots to elderly residents, Los Angeles County resisted, saying it still has about 500,000 health workers to be vaccinated.
But with progress at the forefront, Solis said it is critical to start offering shots to vulnerable older residents.
“We know that COVID-19 was especially 65-year-olds,” Solis said. “Just look at our numbers. More than 99,000 residents aged 65 and older are infected with COVID-19; 30,000 of residents 65 years and older were hospitalized due to COVID-19; and tragically, 9,802 residents in this age group died from COVID-19. That is out of 14,000 people who died.
“… It’s about fairness,” she said. ‘Older adults have been unfairly affected by the virus. They have been living at home for months, isolated, which in itself is a problem. But the The vaccine COVID-19 is here. The hope is here. Our residents will soon be able to return to a life where they can visit their grandchildren, walk with friends, volunteer at a local soup kitchen and even go to the LA County Fair at the Fairplex once we are
back to normal. ‘
Concerns about the availability of vaccine were exacerbated this week when the state’s epidemiologist warned suppliers to stop administering 330,000 Modern vaccines in response to allergic reactions suffered by a handful of people in San Diego.
” A number of possible allergic reactions have been reported higher than normal with a specific amount of Moderna vaccine administered in one community vaccination clinic, ” Epidemiologist Dr. Erica S. Pan said in a statement late Sunday. “Less than ten individuals require medical assistance within the span of 24 hours. Due to an extreme abundance of caution and also the extremely limited amount of vaccine, we recommend that suppliers use other available vaccine supplies and interrupt the administration of vaccines from Moderna Lot 041L20A to “The investigation is being carried out by the CDC, FDA, Moderna and the state. We will provide an update as we learn more.”
San Diego County health officials confirmed last week that half a dozen health workers vaccinated at the Petco Park vaccination center had developed allergic reactions.
The 330,000 doses of Moderna vaccine that are no longer available represent 10% of all the vaccines the state has received so far. It dealt a blow to provinces like Los Angeles that called for more vaccines to be applied to keep up with demand.
Los Angeles County opened five major vaccine sites on Tuesday – at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Calridge Northridge, the Pomona Fairplex, the LA County Office of Education in Downey and the Forum in Inglewood. Eventually, the sites could vaccinate 4,000 people daily, depending on the availability of vaccines.