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SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – San Diego County will move to the next level of vaccination on Saturday and allow about half a million additional residents to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The county will expand the list of people eligible for COVID-19 vaccines to include educators, law enforcement, and food and agricultural workers. Residents 65 years of age and older have already been offered the vaccine as part of the first tier of phase 1B.
Teacher immunizations will play a crucial role in the plans of many school districts to bring students back to campus. The county says 20% of vaccines will be set aside for teachers and transition staff from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Employees can visit VEBAvaccinates.com to sign up for the latest updates.
For others who are eligible for the vaccine, the process will still be the same. They will need to log into the county’s website and make an appointment.
The county shares responsibility for vaccinating additional groups among different agencies:
- Vaccinations for TK-12 educators will be administered by the San Diego County Office of Education and the California Schools Voluntary Employees Benefits Association (VEBA). Everyone else eligible for this group will go to the county vaccination website to make an appointment. (ELIGIBILITY DETAILS)
- Vaccinations for emergency workers will also be processed through the county website. Scripps Health will provide assistance to immunize law enforcement. (ELIGIBILITY DETAILS)
- Vaccinations for people in the food and agriculture category will be managed through the county website. CAL FIRE will help vaccinate farm workers on site. (ELIGIBILITY DETAILS)
But the chairman of the county watchdog, Nathan Fletcher, said eligible residents will need to be patient.
“We’re going to open up vaccines to about half a million San Diegans,” Fletcher said. “There won’t be half a million appointments available on Saturday or Sunday or Monday or for many weeks to come.”
According to the county immunization dashboard on Friday, about 20.2% of residents received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 8.7% were fully immunized.
The addition of more San Diegans precedes the state’s expansion of vaccine eligibility on March 15, which will add some people at high risk for morbidity and mortality if diagnosed with COVID-19:
- Cancer, common with weakened or immunocompromised state
- Chronic kidney disease, stage 4 or above
- Chronic lung disease, dependent on oxygen
- Down syndrome
- Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) following a solid organ transplant
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell anemia
- Heart disease, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathy (excluding hypertension) Severe obesity (body mass index ≥ 40 kg / m2)
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus with hemoglobin A1c greater than 7.5%
People with developmental disabilities or other severe high-risk disabilities may also qualify, as noted here.
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