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SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – San Diego County to prioritize immunization of area healthcare workers ahead of residents 65 and older after the state expands the number of people eligible for a vaccine to people elderly.
Before Wednesday, anyone 75 or older would become eligible for Phase 1B in California. On Wednesday, the state said that number would drop to 65, but San Diego County officials said the county is still trying to get everyone vaccinated in Phase 1A, which includes health workers and staff.
In a press conference on Wednesday, board chairman Nathan Fletcher said the county also needed to set up a capable large-scale distribution system and enough staff to administer the vaccines. There are plans to add super vaccination sites in South Bay, North County and East County.
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“The total number of vaccines that we are aware of that have arrived in San Diego County is just north of 200,000 … but the number of San Diegans level 1A is 620,000. It also takes two doses. for one of these people had to be fully immunized. And so, we had just started the 1A leveling process with healthcare workers and we had a long way to go, “Fletcher said. “There are about half a million San Diegans who are 65 and over. If you add these two categories together, you can see that it’s well over a million people who are now being told they are eligible for a vaccine that no county in California is available to give them. “
Fletcher said county-run vaccination sites will continue to prioritize vaccination of health workers. He added that health care systems that have the vaccine will have the capacity to immunize residents 65 and older if they have enough doses.
Scripps Health, Sharp Healthcare, and Kaiser all said they are still working on eligible healthcare workers in Phase 1A. Scripps Health released a statement that, in part, no San Diego hospital had received vaccines to distribute to patients and discouraged patients from immediately calling their healthcare providers for a vaccine:
Scripps Health is aware that California authorities have allowed residents 65 years and older to qualify for COVID-19 vaccinations. However, none of the San Diego hospitals have received the vaccines yet to begin the distribution to its patients, and we are waiting to hear from the government on when to expect them. Scripps requests that our patients wait to hear from us and we promise to keep you fully informed. At this point, please do not call your Scripps doctor’s office because they don’t know when vaccines will be available. “
Kaiser Permanente released a similar statement, saying the hospital system is only offering vaccines to people in phase 1A at this time:
“We are encouraged by the announcement that people 65 years of age and over are now part of the next group eligible to start receiving vaccines.” Currently, in accordance with state guidelines, Kaiser Permanente Southern California offers vaccines by appointment for people in phase 1a: healthcare for patients workers at high risk of coming into contact with patients with COVID -19 or employees of long-term care facilities: nurses, physicians, technicians, medical assistants, dentists, pharmacists, emergency medical technicians and non-clinical workers such as food services, environmental services and susceptible administrative personnel come into contact with patients with COVID-19. “
Dr. Christian B. Ramers, chief of population health at the Family Health Center in San Diego, is also part of the group helping San Diego County determine the logistics of the vaccine deployment.
Ramers said that once it is time to move on to Phase 1B, the drop in age from 75 to 65 will have a big impact on the county due to the number of additional people who are now eligible. He said that in San Diego County there were about 200,000 people aged 75 and over and about half a million people aged 65 and over.
This increase in the number of eligible people may not be the best, as now a healthy 65-year-old is eligible at the same time as an 80-year-old with health issues.
“If you open up to a larger pool, it dilutes the effect of giving it to people who are at greatest risk of dying,” he said.
Despite the slower-than-expected rollout, San Diego County has set a goal of delivering 250,000 vaccines by the end of the month.
According to Fletcher, there are approximately 2.7 million San Diegans aged 16 and over who can receive current COVID-19 vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health have set a goal for each county to achieve 70% immunization of this group by July 1, 2021 – or about 1.9 million San Diegans. This would require around 3.8 million doses, two for each person.
To reach that goal, Fletcher says the county should vaccinate 23,434 people a day from Feb.1 through the end of June.
“It all depends on when the vaccines arrive, which is totally and totally beyond our control,” said Fletcher.
San Diego County received 241,825 doses on Monday, not including private entities that may also have the vaccine. As of Tuesday, a total of 92,305 doses have been administered, including the first and second doses.
But Fletcher warned that due to the lag – up to a few weeks – in reporting vaccination numbers to the county, that number would be much higher.
To meet the demand, the county plans to meet this upcoming demand with a combination of distribution events, locations and teams. This week, a “super vaccination station” near Petco Park was opened with the goal of delivering 6,000 doses per day by February.
By February, the county hopes to be able to deliver 18,686 doses of COVID-19 to eligible recipients daily through the combination of distribution methods.
Fletcher added that San Diego County will be a pilot county for a new state system for residents to sign up and be notified when they are eligible for a vaccine. This system should be rolled out next week.
Ramers added that as more and more people become eligible, it will be important for residents to stay on top of the latest information. He advises people to find out what phase they become eligible for and watch the news to see who is up. When it’s your turn, the goal is to have plenty of resources to know where to get vaccinated.
“The idea is that we want to have a no-holds-barred approach. So if you get the notification and you can go to a mass vaccination site in Petco Park, go ahead and do it. Well, if you’re in with your own doctor and your own doctor’s office, you have vaccines ready to give you, go ahead and do it, ”Ramers said.
Ramers said hospital staff are already exhausted due to coronavirus patient care and testing, so there is a great need for volunteers to help distribute vaccines. All doctors, dentists, nurses, paramedics and paramedics are welcome to volunteer to help distribute vaccines.
San Diego County reported 3,261 new COVID-19 infections and 54 additional deaths on Wednesday, bringing the region’s total to 201,580 cases and 1,952 deaths.
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