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Los Angeles County began scheduling COVID-19 vaccination appointments for residents aged 65 and older on Tuesday, advancing an effort that isn’t expected to begin until February, but vaccine supplies limited and uncertainty about future allocations left the vaccination effort in doubt.
County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said there were enough vaccines to get through this week’s appointments – around 50,000 of them on public sites – but the county has no idea of how many extra doses he will receive next week.
“One of the issues everyone has had about the Federal Government allocation and distribution is that it has been week to week making it difficult for our sites to do a lot of scheduling, and it’s really hard to extend appointments beyond a few days, which makes it difficult for the audience, ”she said.
Ferrer and County Supervisor Hilda Solis both put their hopes on
Inauguration Wednesday of President-elect Joe Biden, declaring the outgoing
Donald Trump’s administration has been less than transparent about the vaccine
Distribution.
“Tomorrow, the new federal administration takes over and we expect our situation to improve considerably,” Solis said.
According to Ferrer, as of the end of last week, the county had received 685,000 doses of the vaccine, and more than 70% of those had been administered. The county is expected to receive a total of 168,000 doses on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Solis announced Monday evening that she had signed an executive order making COVID-19 outlets available to residents 65 and older. The announcement marked a major policy change, as Ferrer and other health officials previously insisted the county must complete vaccination of healthcare workers before offering limited vaccine supplies to members. of the general public.
Eligibility begins Wednesday for residents aged 65 and over receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Patrick Healy reported on NBC4 News on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
Ferrer on Tuesday played down any internal conflict or perceived difference of opinion, saying she did not view Solis’ decree as a “ public health department waiver. ” Ferrer said the county has made huge strides in getting health workers vaccinated. , and she recognized the need to vaccinate older residents – who are at higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 – even amid the scarcity of vaccines.
“It’s always tough when you’re operating in a shortage, but I appreciate the need for us to be aware of moving forward as quickly as possible to attract high risk people, and I think that’s is what the strategy allowed us to do. ,” she said.
Although Solis initially said the vaccine would be made available to people 65 and older starting Thursday, officials said those appointments would in fact begin on Wednesday.
Those who wish to make appointments can do so online at vaccinateLAcounty.com. People without a computer or the Internet can call 833-540-0473 to make appointments. Officials urged people to use the system online as much as possible, as there will likely be long waits on the phone line.
But demand for the vaccine has apparently exceeded the ability of the online appointment system to handle the load. Shortly after county officials officially announced the date website on Tuesday afternoon, it crashed. County officials announced on Twitter that the website and hotline “are receiving thousands of calls and users and experiencing technical difficulties.”
Some web users have indicated that they cannot access the system at all. Others received a message that the site was under maintenance, while others were only able to start the process to be kicked out of the system and forced to start over.
County officials said they were working to resolve the issues.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced revised vaccination guidelines earlier this month, allowing jurisdictions to offer vaccines to people 65 years of age and older. This group was originally several steps down in the list of priority vaccines.
While many jurisdictions, including Orange County and the City of Long Beach, quickly began offering vaccines to older residents, Los Angeles County resisted, saying there were still around 500,000 workers. health that needed to be vaccinated.
But with progress being made on that front, Solis said it was critical to start offering vaccines to vulnerable elderly residents.
“We know COVID-19 has been particularly difficult for those 65 and over,” Solis said. “Just look at our numbers. More than 99,000 residents aged 65 and over have been infected with COVID-19; 30,000 of those residents aged 65 and over have been hospitalized due to COVID-19; and tragically, 9,802 residents in this age group have died from COVID-19, out of 14,000 people who have died.
“… It’s a matter of fairness,” she said. “The elderly have been unfairly affected by the virus. They have been in their homes for months in isolation, which is like You know it’s a problem in itself. But the COVID-19 vaccine is here. Hope is there. Our residents will soon be able to find a life where they can visit their grandchildren, walk with friends, go hiking. volunteering at a local soup kitchen and even coming to the LA County Fairgrounds at the Fairplex once we’re
back to normal.”
Concerns about vaccine availability were heightened this week when the state epidemiologist warned suppliers to stop giving doses of a batch of 330,000 Moderna vaccines in response to allergic reactions experienced by a handful of people. in San Diego.
“A higher than usual number of possible allergic reactions have been reported with a specific lot of Moderna vaccine administered at a community vaccination clinic,” epidemiologist Dr. Erica S. Pan said in a statement Sunday evening. “Fewer than 10 people required medical attention in a 24 hour period. Out of extreme caution and also recognizing the extremely limited supply of vaccines, we recommend that suppliers use other available vaccine stocks and suspend the vaccine supply. The administration of Moderna Lot 041L20A vaccines until the investigation by CDC, FDA, Moderna and the State is complete. We will provide an update as we learn more. ”
San Diego County health officials confirmed last week that a half-dozen healthcare workers who had been vaccinated at the Petco Park vaccination center suffered from allergic reactions.
These 330,000 doses of Moderna vaccine that are no longer available represent 10% of all vaccines received by the state so far – which is a blow to countries like Los Angeles that have requested more vaccine allocations for respond to the request.
Los Angeles County opened five large-scale vaccination sites on Tuesday – at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Cal State Northridge, Pomona Fairplex, the LA County Office of Education in Downey and the Forum in Inglewood. The sites will eventually have the capacity to immunize 4,000 people each on a daily basis – depending on vaccine availability.
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