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California turns Disneyland into a site for mass vaccine distribution as coronavirus outbreak overwhelms hospitals and sets deadly new record in state.
Orange County officials said the resort town of Disneyland, located in Anaheim, would become the first of five “super distribution points” (super PODs) capable of immunizing thousands of people every day.
Doug Chaffee, the Orange County supervisor, said in a statement that super POD sites will be “absolutely essential in stopping this deadly virus.”
The move comes as California’s Covid-19 death toll hit 30,000 on Monday, a startling figure that underscored the virus’s vast acceleration this winter. It took the country’s most populous state six months to reach 10,000 deaths, but barely a month to go from 20,000 to 30,000.
State Governor Gavin Newsom and public health officials rely on widespread immunizations to bring new infections under control, starting with medical staff and the most vulnerable elderly, such as those in nursing homes.
Newsom acknowledged that vaccine rollout had been too slow and pledged that 1 million vaccines will be administered this week, more than double what has been achieved so far.
Along with Disneyland, the state is also planning to turn baseball stadiums and fairs into vaccination centers – including Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Petco Park in San Diego, and CalExpo in Sacramento. In the Bay Area, the Oakland Coliseum and Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara are also considered mass vaccination sites.
This effort will require what Newsom has called an “all-terrain approach,” including vaccinations from pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, dentists, paramedics and emergency medical technicians, and members of the Guard. California National.
Cars lined up early Monday near the stadium in downtown San Diego, where officials aimed to vaccinate 5,000 health workers a day.
“It’s kind of like a walk in Disneyland” with cars passing by, said Heather Buschman, spokesperson for UC San Diego Health, whose medical staff administered the shots.
She said people seemed eager to get the shots, with more than 12,500 health care workers in San Diego County initially making appointments.
Los Angeles County has become the center of the winter wave, accounting for about 40% of virus-related deaths in the state. As of Monday, nearly 8,000 people were hospitalized in Los Angeles County, which had fewer than 50 intensive care units available in an area of 10 million people, said Dr Christina Ghaly, county director of health services. .
Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles’ director of public health, said they predicted an increase in cases after the New Year’s holidays and that Covid-19 still kills someone in the county every eight minutes, on average.
Lawmakers have also continued to advocate for people to maintain their social distancing to slow the spread of the infection. In Los Angeles County, residents were urged to wear masks even when they were at home if they went out regularly and lived with an elderly or high-risk person.
“Dying of Covid in hospital means dying alone,” said county supervisory board chairperson Hilda Solis. “Visitors are not allowed to enter hospitals for their own safety. Families share their final farewells on tablets and mobile phones. “
“One of the most heartbreaking conversations our healthcare workers share is about these last words when kids apologize to their parents and grandparents for bringing Covid home, for making them sick,” said Solis. “And these apologies are just some of the last words loved ones will ever hear.”
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