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After days of confusion, Los Angeles County officials offered some more clarity on Monday on when the elderly might receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced last week that people 65 and older were eligible for vaccinations. But shortages and the need to always hit first responders and medical workers have created a patchwork of different plans. Some areas immediately started making appointments while others – like LA County – said they still needed time.
Here is where we are now:
So what’s going on Thursday?
In a decree On Monday evening, Hilda Solis, chair of the LA County Oversight Board, ordered county health officials to make COVID-19 vaccination appointments available to residents 65 and older starting Thursday.
Solis said a website and call center for making appointments will be announced before Thursday. During this time, the county public health department will hold a vaccine town hall Tuesday evening and is post immunization information online.
Although the state announced last week that it was opening vaccinations for the elderly, Los Angeles County has not received enough doses to expand slow vaccine deployment. The county has historically limited vaccinations to healthcare workers, first responders, residents, and trained nursing facility staff.
Five major COVID-19 vaccination sites are expected to open this week in Los Angeles County.
The sites are the Pomona Fairplex, The Forum in Inglewood, Cal State Northridge, the LA County Office of Education in Downey, and Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia.
Each site should vaccinate 4,000 people per day. Appointments and proof of employment in the healthcare industry will be required to get the vaccine, the county said. All five sites are expected to remain open for at least four weeks. They are managed separately from the city Dodger Stadium vaccination site.
The county plans to vaccinate about 4,000 people per day at each site. Although the supply is sufficient to do so initially, officials say more is needed to immunize some 500,000 healthcare workers.
The vaccine is also available in retail pharmacies.
But are there any exceptions in LA County?
Yes. Pasadena and Long Beach – which have their own health departments – have extended COVID-19 vaccination to seniors who do not live in nursing homes.
Pasadena on Saturday offered registrations to city residents aged 75 and older who had completed a form expressing interest to get vaccinated. Reservations were filled within two hours for the roughly 800 doses that will be available Tuesday and another 1,000 to be administered Thursday at Victory Park.
City officials said they confirmed on Saturday that they would receive enough doses this week to finish off the rest of their priority medical workers and start vaccinating the elderly. Additional help from local hospitals and pharmacies, which were receiving their own vaccine shipments, relieved some of the pressure.
Long Beach announced on Friday that it had went to its next phase of vaccination, with the inoculation of Mayor Robert Garcia and other critical city employees.
Long Beach police officers and city residents 65 and older are now also eligible for the vaccine. The city has expanded its deployment after immunizing around 15,000 healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities, Garcia said in a press release.
Long Beach will also begin opening immunization clinics for grocery workers and educators this week.
And elsewhere in Southern California?
San Diego County extended COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to residents aged 75 and older on Monday due to a recent slowdown in immunization appointments.
Dr Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health official, said the county plans to expand vaccines to people 65 and older next week, subject to vaccine availability, but a county spokesperson recently said there was a supply problem.
There are nearly half a million residents of San Diego County who are 65 and older.
People aged 75 and over constitute the first group of the first level of phase 1B vaccination priorities receive the green light for vaccinations in San Diego County. Vaccines are still available for healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes, which are included in phase 1A.
Orange County has opened up vaccination to residents 65 and older and first responders working in high-risk communities, as well as healthcare workers.
Orange County’s platform for scheduling new appointments, Othena.com, was regularly updated to resolve technical issues, said Jessica Good, public information manager for the Department of Health of the county.
More than 256,000 people had registered on the site on Saturday – an average of 12,000 registrations per hour – and more than 30,000 of them had been vaccinated, she said. Good added that more appointments will become available as the county receives more vaccines.
Riverside County has started vaccinating those 65 and over and essential workers in certain sectors. But according to some reports, appointments have been difficult to secure.
Ventura County continues to vaccinate healthcare workers and first responders.
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