SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The province of San Diego will give preference to vaccinating the region’s health workers in front of residents 65 and older after the state has expanded those eligible for a vaccination to the elderly.
Before Wednesday, anyone 75 years or older would be eligible for Phase 1B in California. On Wednesday, the state announced that it would drop to 65, but San Diego County leaders said the country is still trying to get everyone vaccinated in phase 1A, which consists of health workers and staff.
At a press conference on Wednesday, council chairman Nathan Fletcher said the country still needs to build a capable large-scale distribution system and staff enough people to administer vaccines. There are plans to add superintendent sites in South Bay, North County and East County.
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‘The total number of vaccines we’ve arrived in San Diego County is just north of 200,000 … but the number of San Diegans that are in level 1A is 620,000. It also takes two doses for one of the people to be fully vaccinated. And so we just started the process of getting through Level 1A with health workers, and we still have a long way to go, “Fletcher said.” There are about half a million San Diegans who are 65 years and older. If you add these two categories together, you can see that there are more than a million people who are told that they are now eligible for a vaccine that no province in California has available to give them. ‘
Fletcher said vaccination sites run by the province will continue to prioritize the vaccination of health workers. He added that health care systems with the vaccine have the ability to vaccinate residents aged 65 and older if they have enough doses.
Scripps Health, Sharp Healthcare and Kaiser have all said they are still working on the qualifying health workers in Phase 1A. Scripps Health issued a statement reading that in part no San Diego hospitals were given vaccines to distribute to patients and patients were discouraged from immediately calling their healthcare providers for a vaccine:
“Scripps Health is aware that California officials have allowed residents 65 and older to be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations. However, none of the San Diego hospitals have yet received the vaccinations to treat their patients. do not distribute, and we wait to hear from the government when they can be expected.Scripps asks that our patients wait to hear from us, and we promise to keep you fully informed.At this point, you should not let your Scripps do not call the doctor’s office as they do not know when the vaccines will be available. ‘
Kaiser Permanente issued a similar statement saying the hospital system currently only offers vaccines to those in phase 1A:
“We are encouraged by the announcement that individuals 65 and older are now in the next group eligible to begin receiving vaccines. Currently, according to state guidelines, Kaiser Permanente Southern California offers vaccines by appointment for those in Phase 1a: Patient-centered healthcare workers at risk of contact with COVID-19 patients or employees of long-term care facilities: nurses, physicians, technicians, medical assistants, dentists, pharmacists, emergency medical technicians and non-clinical workers such as food services, environments and administrative staff who may contact COVID-19 patients. ‘
Dr. Christian B. Ramers, head of population health at the Family Health Center in San Diego, is also part of the group that helps San Diego County determine the logistics of vaccine vaccination.
Ramers said once it is time to move on to Phase 1B, the age drop from 75 to 65 will have a huge impact on the country due to the number of people now eligible. He said in San Diego County there are about 200,000 people 75 years and older, and about half a million people 65 years and older.
This increase in eligible people may not be the best, because now a healthy 65-year-old is eligible at the same time as an 80-year-old with health problems.
“Opening a larger pool dilutes the effect of giving it to the people most at risk of dying,” he said.
Despite the slower-than-expected implementation, San Diego County has set a goal of administering 250,000 vaccinations by the end of the month.
According to Fletcher, there are approximately 2.7 million San Diegans who are 16 and older who can receive the current COVID-19 vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Public Health in California have set a goal that by July 1, 2021 – or approximately 1.9 million San Diegans – each province will achieve up to 70% vaccination of the group. It requires about 3.8 million doses, two for each person.
To achieve this, Fletcher says the province must vaccinate 23,434 people a day from February 1 to the end of June.
“It all depends on the arrival of the vaccines, something that is completely out of our control,” Fletcher said.
San Diego County received 241,825 doses as of Monday, not including private institutions that also have the vaccine. As of Tuesday, a total of 92,305 doses had been administered, including the first and second doses.
But Fletcher warned that because there is a delay – up to a few weeks – in reporting the vaccination numbers to the country, it is likely to be much higher.
To meet the demand, the province plans to meet the next demand with a combination of distribution events, websites and teams. This week, a ‘vaccination superstructure’ was opened near Petco Park with the aim of administering 6,000 doses per day by February.
In February, the country hopes to be able to administer 18,686 doses of COVID-19 daily to suitable recipients through the combination of distribution methods.
Fletcher added that San Diego County will be a pilot country for a new state system for residents to register and be notified when they are eligible for a vaccine. The system is expected to be launched next week.
Ramers added that as more people qualify, it will be important for residents to stay up to date with the latest information. He advises people to know what phase they are eligible for, and watch the news to see who is going on. If it’s your turn, the goal is to have enough resources to vaccinate.
“The idea is that we do not want an approach with no door wrong. If you get the notice and then can go to a mass vaccination center at Petco Park, then do it. That’s fine. If you talk to your own doctor and your own doctor’s offices have your vaccinations ready to give you, keep it up, “Ramers said.
Ramers said hospital staff are already thin because they care for coronavirus patients and do tests, and therefore there is a great need for volunteers to give vaccines. Any physicians, dentists, nurses, paramedics and EMTs are asked to help voluntarily dispense vaccines.
San Diego County reported 3,261 new COVID-19 infections and 54 additional deaths, bringing the total number of regions to 201,580 cases and 1952 deaths.