Some teachers, food workers, and first responders in Los Angeles County may begin receiving COVID-19 vaccinations within two to three weeks – an important step as the populated region increases its immunization process.
With supplies of Pfizer-BioNTech and Modern vaccines expected to remain tight in the coming weeks, and while the majority of LA County seniors are still waiting to receive their shots, officials have warned it will take time for large numbers of educators, child care workers, food and agricultural workers, and emergency services and law enforcement to receive their shots.
The details of vaccine expansion for these groups are still being worked out, such as schools and districts offering their own vaccination clinics.
“With a very limited vaccine supply and uncertainty in the timing of increased production, a realistic and carefully designed plan is being developed to expand the availability of vaccinations to these additional sectors,” said Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health in LA County , Said Wednesday. “We plan to start vaccinating workers in these sectors in two to three weeks.”
More than 1.3 million Angelenos working in those countries can be vaccinated. This includes about 668,000 teachers, childcare workers and other educators; at least 548,000 food and agricultural workers, including employees of grocery stores; and about 155,000 workers in law enforcement, the courts and shipping offices.
Approximately 2.2 million people in LA County who work in health care, live in long-term care facilities, or are 65 years and older are already eligible.
But only a fraction of those eligible received at least one shot. Ferrer said about 80% of senior Angelenos have not yet received a single dose, and that both vaccines require two shots.
Of the approximately 4.4 million doses that LA County must vaccinate all of which are currently eligible, the country has received only 1.28 million doses, of which 1.05 million were administered from last week.
Ferrer said it was time to expand the election, despite concerns that opening more groups in the queue would make it harder for seniors to make appointments.
‘We do have to start with some of our essential workers. ‘It’s going to be really hard to wait weeks and weeks and weeks until we complete an entire sector before we move on,’ she said.
Unfortunately, the supply of vaccine to LA County will be limited for a number of weeks, and officials expect only 200,000 doses per week, split between first doses and second doses. However, officials have expressed hope that the shortage of vaccines will ease in the coming months, with the single-dose vaccine Johnson & Johnson expected to be available in March, and two other vaccines on the horizon.
‘It will therefore take time to reach everyone. And in these times of scarcity of vaccines, we must ask everyone to wait their turn, ”Ferrer said.
The debate over when more people should be added to the vaccine is across the state.
Some officials have warned that opening shots immediately to teachers, food workers or other first responders will take limited appointments from those likely to die from the disease.
Orange County will continue to focus on seniors age 65 and older over the next two weeks, Dr. Clayton Chau, director of the country’s health agency and health officer, said Tuesday. Other groups already eligible for the vaccine are health workers, residents of long-term care facilities and law enforcement officers working in areas with high COVID-19 rates, such as Anaheim and Santa Ana.
‘Add more people [to those eligible to get the vaccine] will give seniors less chance of being vaccinated, ”Chau told the board of supervisors on Tuesday. “And I just want to remind people that they are the most vulnerable people.”
More than 70% of the people who died in COVID-19 in California were 65 or older.
Orange County has California’s second-largest population of seniors, with more than 500,000 of them, behind that of Los Angeles County, Chau said. Only a quarter of Orange County seniors received the vaccine, Chau said.
Chau said he was particularly concerned about the lack of vaccinations among elderly people living in poor neighborhoods, especially in Santa Ana, Anaheim and Garden Grove, which are very Latino and whose residents are more likely to die from COVID-19 than people living elsewhere.
Among vaccinated elderly people whose information was recorded in Othena, a vaccination system used by older residents of Orange County, Latino and Blacks received the COVID-19 vaccine at lower prices compared to their percentage of the population.
“It is clear that we need to focus our efforts on the Black and Hispanic / Latinx community … and that is the plan we will be moving forward – in the next two weeks – to make sure we reach these communities,” he said. Chau said.
Other areas in Southern California that have already opened fire on the groups include Riverside County and Long Beach, which runs its own public health agency, separate from LA County.
San Bernardino County has opened vaccinations for law enforcement and emergency services workers and teachers.
But across California, it was difficult to secure appointments. And other provinces defended their decisions to continue the focus on seniors.
In San Diego County, seniors make up 90% of COVID-19 deaths and the majority hospitalizations, Provincial Board of Supervisors Nathan Fletcher said at a news conference last week.
‘For a parent, COVID-19 can be a death sentence. And so we are currently doing seniors, ‘Fletcher said. “Immediately afterwards we go to the first level of essential workers, namely law enforcers and teachers …. We do not believe that it would make sense to take a senior out of the line and replace the senior with a young and healthy person. not. worker. ”
Fletcher said at the moment that San Diego County is beginning to detect a weakening in demand for vaccines, “then we will be ready and willing to quickly open up the appointment system for teachers, law enforcement and food and agriculture. [workers]. ”
The board of supervisors on Tuesday rejected a proposal to allow law enforcers to receive vaccinations.
Dr. Wilma Wooten, the San Diego County health officer, said other provinces that offer vaccines to law enforcement are smaller than San Diego. She said law enforcers should receive the following vaccinations, and she recommended that the council not change its policy, as seniors are likely to die most from the disease and law enforcers represent only 0.2% of the people admitted to the hospital is with COVID-19.
Ventura County took a more conservative approach than its neighbors and had limited vaccinations for people 75 and older and health workers. Officials vaccinated there on Tuesday for 65-year-olds and older.
“I want to thank everyone in that age group for their patience,” said Linda Parks, chair of the Board of Supervisors, adding that the province “prioritizes those who are most vulnerable.”
In the Bay Area, San Francisco officials said Tuesday that they will be ready to open vaccinations on February 26 for educators, food workers and first responders. Alameda County has already expanded access to the groups.
The mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, has so far said that more than 30% of San Franciscans 65 and older received a first dose.
Other provinces in the Bay Area have not yet opened access to educators or food workers, including the provinces of Santa Clara, Contra Costa and San Mateo.
Gary Warth and Paul Sisson of the San Diego Union Tribune contributed to this report.