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Orange County has opened three mass vaccination sites for the next level of eligible health workers to get their first COVID-19 vaccine.
The Orange County health care agency on Thursday, January 7 began administering the first doses to all staff listed in phase 1A, which since mid-December has been targeting front-line hospital workers, residents of facilities long-term care providers and first responders to get their coronavirus vaccines. first.
Now, the list of healthcare workers who can schedule an appointment for a vaccine includes paramedics, dentists, lab technicians, home healthcare workers and pharmacists, as well as nursing home workers. retirement, emergency care, dialysis centers and law enforcement.
“Groups have been contacted by the OC Health Care Agency to schedule appointments to receive the vaccine at designated locations in Orange County,” agency spokeswoman Jessica Good said Thursday. Photo ID and professional license, employee badge, pay stub, or signed letter from their employer with appropriate letterhead must be presented.
A line of people marched down the street from the North Net Training Center in Anaheim on Thursday, January 7, as they waited to receive their first doses. Other locations are in Huntington Beach and Irvine.
About 900 people are expected to have received an injection by the end of the day, Anaheim spokesman Mike Lyster said.
People receiving their doses entered one of 10 stations manned by paramedics from Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton and Orange.
After their injections, the recipients were monitored for allergic reactions, Lyster said.
“Everyone we did today, we had no problem,” he said. “Most people just keep going.”
Lyster said the county had sent notifications to people to make an appointment to receive their dose, but more than expected showed up. But everyone has been screened and only those eligible have been vaccinated – some retirees and healthcare workers from other countries have been turned away, he said.
Appointments are highlighted, Lyster said, adding that the site is expected to continue operating over the weekend.
Places capable of accommodating a greater number of people are in preparation. Anaheim officials would like to host at least one in the city, Lyster said.
“In the longer term, our city is ready to work with the county to have all kinds of sites,” he said. “All we do today is prepare for later,” when the vaccine can be made available to anyone who wants it.
The county is planning, in an effort dubbed Operation Independence, regional “super distribution point” sites that can immunize thousands of people a day, Orange County Oversight Board interim chairman Andrew Do said on Thursday. , in a press release.
“The county anticipates the need for at least five Super PODs which will be released online as they are approved, staffed and have COVID-19 vaccines,” the statement said. Locations will be announced as they are finalized.
People who received their first dose at the Anaheim training center will receive their second dose at one of these new sites, Lyster said.
The three current temporary locations have so far received 6,400 doses by the Health Care Agency, Good said.
In Orange County, around 32,000 people had been vaccinated as of Dec.31, according to a new online tracking dashboard.
Good said the health agency was not yet sure how often it would update immunization data. “We wait until next week, when more robust state data is expected.”
Reluctance to be among the first to get a new vaccine and other logistical challenges slowed the state’s initial rollout. About one in three hospital staff in Orange County decide to skip the blow, Health Care Agency director and county health official Dr Clayton Chau said this week.
In Orange County, the next waves of immunizations, Phases 1B and 1C, are expected to begin in February, according to a detailed schedule on the Health Care Agency’s website. So far, these phases include elderly residents and others over the age of 16 with underlying medical conditions or disabilities that put them at high risk for severe cases of COVID-19, as well as a range of essential workers.
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