Donaciano Estrada, 68, and his wife Rosario, 65, waited less than an hour on Thursday to receive the first dose of Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19.
In the van driven by their daughter María, the couple entered the Inglewood Forum, on Kareem Street, and followed a huge line of cars whose passengers had set up a meeting to be
immunized.
“I want to be healthy,” Donaciano Estrada told La Opinion as he explained why he decided to take the dose. “I don’t want to get sick.”
The Estrada couple, originally from Zacatecas, Mexico, were registered by their daughter on the web portal
VaccinateLACounty.com. The application can also be made in Spanish.
“I love my parents and that’s why I made time to get them vaccinated,” said María Estrada, who works in a medical office.
The only downside was that Mrs. Rosario didn’t know where she was going. Her family said she did not want to be vaccinated after hearing that some people who received the injection had side effects.
“She is nervous, so when she arrived at the vaccination site, she had no choice but to resign,” her husband said.
After vaccination and a 15-minute wait inside their vehicle, the family left. They will return on February 11 for the second dose.
Last Tuesday, the first day of mass vaccination at five centers, including Inglewood Forum, Dodgers Stadium, Pomona Fairplex, Downey County Education Center and North State Horse Education Center (CSUN), a total of 8,302 people received the first dose of COVID vaccine -19.
“The next day we vaccinated 25% more people in the five centers,” said Jesús Ruiz, a spokesman for the Forum. “We estimate to immunize a maximum of 4,000 people every day in each vaccination center,” he said.
Increased immunization efforts have resulted in the signing of an executive order by Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solís, which aims to make COVID-19 vaccines available to residents age 65 and older starting January 21st.
“In recent weeks, Los Angeles County has administered the vaccine to front-line health workers so that they can stay safe while doing important life-saving work … [También] for residents and staff in qualified healthcare facilities and long-term care facilities, ”said Solís.
The launch of the vaccine has been a daunting task, especially during an unprecedented peak in which cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise.
The state opened eligibility for vaccinating people over the age of 65 earlier this month, but Los Angeles County took a few more days to organize distribution to the group.
“While the vaccine did not arrive, I covered my face with a mask wherever I went … And when my children wanted to see us, only about seven of us met at home,” said Donaciano Estrada. “You had to take care of yourself and thank God, no one got sick.”
Millions of vaccines
According to health officials, Los Angeles County needs more than 4 million doses to provide the two-dose vaccination protocol to all health workers, which number about 800,000 people, along with 1.3 million residents. 65 years or older.
However, so far the county has received only 853,650 doses. Once the 2.2 million residents on the current priority list, which includes health workers and long-term intensive care unit residents, are vaccinated, another eight million residents will be missing, each of whom would need of two doses of vaccines.
“I would like to be vaccinated. I talked to my insurance company and they told me I should put myself on a waiting list, “said Socorro Batanero, 83, of Monterey Park.
“I get vaccinated at a CVS pharmacy and maybe it will wait until March, after which I am still closed … I would not have encouraged to go to those places they opened in the county, I am too far away and I am afraid to drive there. “
According to estimates by Dr. Seira Kurian, director of the Medical Affairs Division of
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will receive 143,900 doses next week, but 106,000 of them – more than 70 percent – will be used as secondary doses for health care workers and others.
For now, in her case, Ms. Rosario Estrada says she has lost her fear of the first injection and is ready for the second picket.
“The needle does not hurt at all; the tension she brought is stronger “, said her husband Don Donaciano.
“I think she was impressed because she walked on an empty stomach … I didn’t, I ate a taco of boiled potatoes with tomatoes and onions.”