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Orange County’s second large-scale COVID-19 vaccination site will open at Soka University in Aliso Viejo on Saturday as officials continue efforts to scale up vaccinations despite ongoing supply issues.
The announcement comes a week after the county launched its first vaccination center at Disneyland in Anaheim.
Ultimately, the county plans to operate five centers, which health officials say is critical to their goal of having all residents vaccinated by July 4.
For now, only healthcare workers, residents of long-term care facilities, and people 65 years of age and older are eligible to get vaccinated at the centers.
“Orange County is working around the clock to make the COVID-19 vaccine available to anyone who wants it,” Oversight Board Chairman Andrew Do said in a prepared statement. “This second vaccination site at Soka University will allow us to vaccinate thousands of additional residents every day.”
But the increase in vaccinations has been hampered by supply issues. The county depends on the state for its share of vaccine doses and requests more daily, officials said.
The county has distributed 21,782 doses since the Disneyland site opened last week. As of Sunday, 108,812 doses had been distributed in total, according to county data.
Eventually, officials hope to vaccinate 7,500 to 8,000 people a day in major centers, said Dr Clayton Chau, county health official and director of the Health Care Agency, last week.
It is not clear how many doses the county has received so far. These figures were not immediately available Thursday morning.
Other counties in California face the same distressing situation.
In San Francisco, officials had warned vaccines could run out as early as Thursday as the number of doses the city was receiving had dropped significantly from a week ago and doses that needed to be thrown away had not been replaced. . However, since the state has now cleared the use of the questionable batch of Moderna, the city will be able to use 8,000 doses it was forced to put aside, health officials said.
Los Angeles County has only received 853,650 doses, although it needs more than 5 million doses just to inoculate all healthcare workers and residents 65 and over.
Besides supply issues, vaccination plans hit other speed bumps in Orange County this week.
Thousands of people who were due to receive their first round of the vaccine saw their appointments postponed after high winds forced the Disneyland site to close for two days.
Tuesday’s appointments have been postponed to Thursday, according to county representative
County officials also temporarily stopped using a batch of Moderna vaccine that may have caused allergic reactions. California’s leading epidemiologist said on Wednesday that experts had found “no scientific basis” to continue withholding doses.
The county has also received complaints from residents who have encountered problems using Othena’s website to schedule appointments.
In response, COVID-19 staff from the OC Healthcare Agency and the vaccine helpline at (714) 834-2000 were trained to assist callers at the site.
“We understand that many residents are eager to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and we encourage people to stay patient as we work to distribute our limited supply of vaccine to eligible people,” said the vice-chairman of the board of surveillance, Doug Chaffee, in a statement.
Vaccine basics outside of Orange County
Los Angeles County residents aged 65 and older can register for an appointment on the county’s public health department website, vaccinatelacounty.com. Residents without access to a computer can call (833) 540-0473 between 8 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. for assistance with reservations.
The City of Los Angeles also offers the vaccine to anyone in Los Angeles County who is 65 years of age or older, via another online portal. This website links patients to sites such as Dodger Stadium, San Fernando Recreation Park, Lincoln Park, Hansen Dam, and Crenshaw Christian Center.
Ventura County offers vaccines to residents 75 years of age and older, who may register for appointments online. Information for residents of Riverside County can be found at Riverside University Health System, while residents of San Bernardino County can find information about vaccines county website.
Times editors Maura Dolan and Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.
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