“Next week, most appointments at our immunization facilities will continue to be for the second dose,” said Dr. Paul Simon, chief of the county’s public health department, on Friday. Mega-POD sites (distribution point). “
County Mega-PODs are located at Pomona Fairplex, Magic Mountain, Forum, Downey County Office for Education and Cal State Northridge.
He said the first doses will be available in other locations, primarily at health centers, pharmacies and other providers serving the areas most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Due to lack of doses, city-run sites such as Dodger Stadium, Hansen Dam, Crenshaw Clinic, San Fernando Clinic and Lincoln Park Clinic are temporarily closed. The city ran out of vaccines at the end of last week, and sites run by the city are expected to reopen on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The county received about 200,000 doses each week, although the actual amount varied from week to week, making it difficult to plan reservations in advance. Supplies were so limited this week that the city of Los Angeles was forced to close the Dodger Stadium vaccination site and four other locations over the weekend as it ran out of supplies until Thursday afternoon.
“We share their frustration,” Simon said. “We’re all frustrated. We know we could do a lot more if we had multiple doses. For example, we now get about 200,000 doses each week, and as we look at “All of our suppliers are confident that we can deliver up to 600,000 doses per week. So we have a much larger capacity if we can get the vaccine available.”
Simon and county health officer Dr. Muntu Davis said the increase in consumption will be critical as more people become eligible for photos – noting that the state plans to extend eligibility next month to all 16-year-olds. or over which they have underlying medical conditions or disabilities that make them extremely susceptible to death or serious illness caused by COVID.
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Davis acknowledged the generally improved downward trends in day-to-day cases, but stressed that while the numbers are getting better, they are still high and “the risk of meeting someone with COVID-19 who may not know it is still very big”. ‘
The county reported another 137 deaths through COVID on Friday, while Long Beach officials announced 14 deaths and Pasadena one, bringing the total death toll to 18,804.
Another 3,497 new cases were confirmed by the county, along with 124 from Long Beach and 29 from Pasadena, bringing the cumulative total throughout the pandemic to 1,161,926.
The county also reported another 15 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children or MIS-C, bringing the total to 90, including one death. Health officials noted that in the last two weeks there has been a 35% increase in the number of MIS-C infections locally. The syndrome generally develops in children after they have had COVID-19, although it has occasionally affected patients without a known previous infection.
According to state figures, there were 3,426 people hospitalized in the county due to COVID since Friday, with 1,032 people in intensive care. At the beginning of January, more than 8,000 people were hospitalized for the virus.
“So there’s positive news for things that are going to go down,” Davis said. considering the opening of more economies … and they have less restrictive changes. “
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He urged people to continue to adhere to protocols such as masking and physical distancing. He acknowledged the changes that were formalized this week, allowing the resumption of church interior services with limited capacity and activity limits during the services. However, he stressed that, despite the change, “it is even safer for places of worship to have only outdoor and remote services. These are the safest options for those at high risk of severe disease from COVID-19 and those who live with them “.
Davis also expressed dismay at plans by the Grace Sun Valley Community Church – which has repeatedly defied county and court orders by organizing massive indoor services – to host an interior religious conference in early March. which usually attracts over 3,000 people. He said the county was “exploring its options” to challenge the event. Such conferences are restricted under health restrictions, but it is unclear whether the conflict would have been exempted as a religious gathering.
On Friday evening, however, the church announced that it had opted to postpone the conference in light of “its ongoing litigation and recent threats from the county and state regarding the planned event.
Regarding vaccines, Simon said that the latest figures show that 1,345,949 doses were administered in the county, with 1,047,074 of them the first doses. A total of 13.5% of the county’s population aged 16 and over received at least one dose, and 3.8% of this population is completely vaccinated.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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