In a day of confusion and frustration, the Los Angeles vaccination sites that were supposed to be closed on Friday due to stock shortages soon went faster than expected, and had to turn people away on Thursday.
The incident highlighted the severe shortage of supplies as California sought to extend vaccinations outside of medical workers and the elderly to other groups, including essential workers and teachers. Los Angeles County officials have said they hope to be eligible in the coming weeks, but acknowledge that there will be competition to get doses until the supply chain opens.
Mayor Eric Garcetti said the sites will reopen if the city receives more vaccinations, likely only after the Presidential Day holiday.
The city received only 16,000 doses this week, compared to 90,000 doses the previous week. The reason for the significant drop was not clear, Garcetti said. He urged federal and state agencies to send vaccinations to the city.
“When vaccines do arrive in Los Angeles, we know how to administer them,” he said. “We have an excellent infrastructure … and we will provide it to people efficiently and safely. The problem is that we are not receiving fast enough doses yet. ”
The five sites, including Dodger Stadium, Crenshaw Christian Center, San Fernando, Lincoln Park and Hansen Dam, would close Friday. According to Andrea Garcia, a Garcetti spokeswoman, they have already exhausted their stock.
“Due to an unforeseen shortage of vaccines today, the city’s vaccination sites ran out of doses earlier than expected,” Garcia said, adding that the city was able to secure additional vaccines quickly and on Thursday afternoon nearly 3,000 reschedule appointments at Dodger Stadium. .
According to the mayor’s office, the additional doses were obtained from a province by the Department of Public Health in LA.
The shortage exacerbates growing concerns about vaccine supplies amid a week that was already unpredictable, and Garcetti on Wednesday called vaccine supply issues a huge obstacle in our race to vaccinate Angelenos. ‘
“We vaccinate people faster when new bottles arrive here in Los Angeles, and I’m very worried now,” Garcetti said.
Although Dodger Stadium was on track to become the largest vaccination site in the country, with the capacity to deliver 12,000 shots per day, the total vaccination at the site rarely came close to the target, but instead approx. 7,000 per day.
Although the city games were preparing to close on Friday and Saturday, people who arrived at the sites on Thursday morning were surprised to learn that they had already run out.
“No warning or email has been sent notifying us,” Vanessa, a medical worker, asked that her surname not be used. Vanessa received her first dose at Lincoln Park on Jan. 16 and did not find out she would not receive her second shot as scheduled until she arrived at the yard on Thursday.
“At the entrance, someone was there to let us all know that they are not receiving vaccinations today, and Carbon Health will make contact to reschedule,” she said. “Everyone parked, just to step up and say there was no one.”
City officials said all those affected by the shortage Thursday were notified that they could come to Dodger Stadium between 12 noon and 7 p.m. to receive their scheduled shot. Carsey Health spokeswoman Lindsey Whitehouse issued texts, calls and emails to recreate 2,987 appointments.
At the provincial level, vaccination sites remain open, but with a focus on second doses. Pomona Fairplex, the Forum, County Office of Education in Downey, Calridge Northridge, El Sereno, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia and Balboa Sports Complex in Encino are limited to second doses only for the remainder of the week.
“Anyone seeking a first dose at these sites will not be vaccinated,” the LA County Department of Public Health said.
The service delivery levels make it difficult for California as a whole to meet the demand for vaccination. Only 2.4% of the approximately 40 million people living in the state received both doses, according to The Times’ vaccination track.
President Biden announced on Thursday that his government has secured a total of 600 million doses, which will be divided equally between Pfizer and Moderna, which will be delivered by the end of July. The amount is enough to fully vaccinate all of the approximately 260 million people eligible for the shots in the US
Moderna has agreed to deliver 100 million doses by the end of March, another 100 million by the end of June and the last 100 million by the end of July. Pfizer is expected to meet the same March target, saying it plans to deliver an additional $ 100 million by the end of May, two months earlier than its contractual obligation. The company is also expected to deliver its final 100 million by the end of July.
But the vaccine manufacturers need to increase their pace to stay on target.
Moderna is on track to deliver 6.7 million doses to the federal government next week. If the weekly rate remains the same, Moderna will be 14 million out of its 100 million target by the end of March. If Pfizer maintains its weekly rate of 4.2 million doses, the company will have 33 million doses of its 100 million dose targets by the end of March.
A representative of Moderna said ‘production and emissions are not linear’ and said the company will be able to scale up production yields over time. Representatives of Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Approximately 1.2 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna combined flow into California each week.
Federal officials say they hope the situation will improve in the coming months.
Anthony Fauci saw an open season on the dose of COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday, dr. Anthony Fauci said. This is an optimistic forecast that follows the fact that states continue to call for additional inventory to increase their implementation.
Although the country is far from delivering doses to all who need it, Fauci said he believes conditions will improve to the point where health officials can begin vaccinating the wider population.
“By the time we are in April, I would think I would call it a better wording than ‘open season’, namely that anyone and everyone in any category can start vaccinating,” said the US government’s top expert on contagious diseases said during an appearance in the NBC program “Today”.
In California, those who work in health care, live in long-term care facilities, or are 65 years of age or older can currently be vaccinated. Teachers, childcare workers and other educators, food and agricultural workers and law enforcers are also eligible – although many local health departments must still allow these groups must register for appointments as the vaccine supply remains strict.
Health authorities nationwide said supply the biggest obstacle to expedite vaccinations. Dose allocations have varies from week to week, and until recently, officials had little insight into what their shipments would look like even a few weeks in the future, making long-term planning a challenge.
Nationwide, nearly 66 million doses of vaccine have been delivered, and approximately 44.8 million have been administered, according to the latest figures of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.