Although it may not snow much in San Diego County, snow and severe weather in other parts of the US affect the delivery of vaccines in our region, which will cause delays in local vaccinations.
At a weekly news briefing focusing on COVID-19 updates, Nathan Fletcher, San Diego County Supervisor, said the county received news that more Pfizer and Moderna vaccine deliveries scheduled to arrive this week in San Diego County will not arrive from the cause of inclement weather affecting the country.
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“This will have an impact on our ability to deliver vaccines this week,” Fletcher said. “A second set of delays will have a very significant impact on our system.”
A second set of delays will have a very significant impact on our system.
Nathan Fletcher, the Earl of San Diego’s overseer
Moderna’s main production unit is in Michigan, while Pfizer is in Massachusetts, county officials said.
Fletcher said routes from these facilities to San Diego County have been affected by severe winter weather.
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher detailed the reasons for the delays in the delivery of the vaccine during a press conference on February 17, 2021.
Due to delays in vaccine delivery, Fletcher said the county will have to stop vaccinations in some places as early as Thursday.
“It is also very likely that we will reschedule the appointments,” he explained. “We appreciate everyone’s patience. We continue to monitor the situation. We will adapt and, as a county, we will continue to do everything we can to put vaccines into arms as soon as possible. ”
Nathan Fletcher, San Diego County’s supervisor, said some local coronavirus vaccination sites will have to “discontinue” immunizations as early as Thursday because of the delay, reports Omari Fleming of NBC 7.
NBC 7 is working to collect information on specific vaccination locations that will experience these delays.
As of Wednesday, county public health officials said the county had administered 663,000 coronavirus vaccines.
Fletcher said the county is “frustrated” by the delays and understands that the public will feel the same frustration.
He said county public health officials believe supply chain problems will “solve on their own next week for up to 10 days”.
“We have a high degree of confidence that in the first week of March we will be able to move to the first level of key workers: teachers, agriculture and law enforcement,” Fletcher added to Wednesday’s briefing. “We believe we have reached a place where we have reached a significant number of seniors, and as the supply comes, we believe that in the first week of March, we will be able to do that.”
Fletcher said Wednesday that the delays are not expected to be significant enough to push anyone scheduled for the second dose after the six-week deadline recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, as most follow-up photos are scheduled for two to three weeks. after the initial shot.
However, the county supervisor said that the delay in delivery and the subsequent lack may affect some meetings for the first photos.
“[There] there will be huge pressure on the system to meet the second dose schedules, which means that, except for significant changes in supply chains, the availability of the first dose appointments for the next week will probably be limited to 10 days. ” said Fletcher.
Previous vaccine delays in San Diego County
The coronavirus vaccine first arrived in San Diego County in mid-December 2020, but it is not the first time delays have affected the flow of local vaccinations.
On February 12, the county said that a planned shipment of Modern COVID-19 vaccines had never arrived and this would impact the availability of vaccines in the region. The source of the transport delay was unclear.
The lack caused the county to close its super vaccination station at Petco Park in East Village for three days. During this delay, vaccination schedules were postponed and rescheduled, as the county gave priority to people who were to receive the second dose.
The expected shipment arrived on Tuesday and, until Wednesday, the East Village super station reopened.