First doses of Covid vaccine in Los Angeles are extremely low this week – Deadline

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The good news in Los Angeles this week is that the city’s largest Covid-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium will reopen. The bad news is that, for the second week in a row, the city has virtually no first doses of the vaccine to administer.

Last week we only received 16,000 new doses. “That’s roughly the number of new doses we administer each day,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “That’s a drop of 90,000 from the previous week. This is unacceptable. “

This week, Garcetti said in a statement that the city had only received 58,000 doses of the vaccine. This is much better than the 16,000 new doses last week, but about 35% less than the 90,000 doses delivered the week before.

As a result, Garcetti said, “the City will prioritize those whose second dose is due in the days to come.”

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Los Angeles’ Covid-19 vaccine shortage will continue into next week; Second shots only at county Mega-POD sites, health officials say

This is bad news for the growing group of people eligible for vaccination.

“Given the overall low level of supplies, approximately 4,600 first doses will be available throughout the week at the city’s newest site at Pierce College and at mobile vaccination clinics serving our most vulnerable communities.

The city was administering an average of 13,051 doses per day before the recent shortages.

You can read the mayor’s full statement at the bottom of this article.

Los Angeles County will also limit the majority of its available Covid-19 vaccinations this week to provide second doses to those ready to receive them, with large-scale sites run by the county administering second doses exclusively, have announced. Friday health officials.

“Next week, the majority of appointments at our vaccination sites will continue to be for second doses,” said Dr. Paul Simon, scientific director of the county public health department. “We will only provide second doses at our Mega-POD (distribution point) sites.” It was after only delivering the second dose last week, which has been two straight weeks, that the county has had to postpone first-dose appointments due to vaccine supply issues.

“We are all frustrated. We know we could do a lot more if we had more doses, ”Simon said on Friday. “For example, we are currently receiving around 200,000 doses per week, and as we surveyed all of our providers, we are confident that we could administer up to 600,000 doses per week. So we have a much, much greater capacity if we can get the vaccine available. “

Here is Garcetti’s statement in full:

LA County, which administers its own larger network of vaccination sites, said Friday that, for the second week in a row, it will not offer any first vaccinations.

Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced that city vaccination sites will prioritize second doses this week. Local leaders continue to advocate for a larger supply of COVID-19 vaccines for the city and county of Los Angeles. However, until more shipments arrive, the first doses will be severely limited.

“Our city has the tools, the infrastructure and the determination to immunize the Angelenos quickly and safely – we just need more doses,” said Mayor Garcetti. “Our density and demographics have made our region the epicenter of this crisis in recent months, and with a reliable and consistent supply of vaccines, we can get more vaccines in people’s arms, lower infection rates. , hospitalization and death, and defeat. this pandemic once and for all.

The city of Los Angeles is expected to receive just 54,000 doses of Moderna and 4,000 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine this week. In accordance with guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and the County Department of Public Health, the City will prioritize people whose second doses are due in the coming days. If the city receives an additional supply this week, further appointments for the first dose will be available online at Coronavirus.LACity.org/VaxAppointment.

Appointments for this week’s second dose were automatically scheduled for Angelenos who received their first dose Jan. 18-23 at Hansen Dam, San Fernando Park, Crenshaw Christian Center, Lincoln Park and Dodger Stadium. Eligible patients must have received a text and / or email with details of their second appointment.

Given the overall low level of supplies, approximately 4,600 first doses will be available throughout the week at the city’s newest site at Pierce College and at the mobile vaccination clinics serving our most vulnerable communities. Most of the city’s vaccination sites should be open this week from Tuesday to Saturday; The Hansen Dam will reopen on Wednesday. Mobile clinics are expected to operate Tuesday through Friday in Council Districts 8, 9 and 14.

Angelenos can visit Coronavirus.LACity.org/Vaccine to check availability of first-dose appointments, sign up for notifications, and find more information about second-dose appointments.



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