County leaders announced Wednesday that employees in schools, education and child care; non-medical emergency nurses and workers in the food and agricultural sectors – are eligible for vaccinations starting Saturday.
San Diego County Supervisory Board Chairman Nathan Fletcher made the announcement about Level 2 members in Phase 1B of the immunization program – in the afternoon at the county’s weekly coronavirus briefing.
The county said it is expanding eligibility for the vaccine. Melissa Adan from NBC 7 has more.
Fletcher said nearly 70 percent of the elderly, as well as residents of long-term skilled care facilities, have already received their fires. As a result, he said, the resulting abundance of available vaccine schedules has led to the move.
“We are beginning to see some weakness in the use of the first doses by the elderly, so we are ready starting this weekend – Saturday – to open vaccinations to the extended group,” said Fletcher.
About half a million residents of the county would be newly available for shooting as a result of the decision, according to officials. To date, more than 783,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in San Diego County.
Do COVID-19 vaccines reduce the spread of coronavirus or just hospitalizations? Will you have to get it every year? And can you pass with a single dose? These are just some of the persistent questions I have heard as COVID-19 vaccines are spreading across the country. LX News spoke with Dr. Richard Novak, head of infectious diseases at the University of Illinois at Chicago, to find out what doctors know.
The news comes on the day the county reported 658 new cases of coronavirus, a total of 258,463 since the pandemic first began nearly a year ago in San Diego.
Officials are urging residents to remain patient, as the expansion of the vaccine pool will put pressure on both the scheduling system and the sites that have been set up around the county to administer the photos.
Fletcher said officials are creating a “closed” system with the county education office to obtain the appointment of K-12 school staff, with 20% – not 10%, as previously reported – of all photos aside, dedicated to educators and staff. Schedules will be established through schools, not through the county or through the online program of the state’s MyTurn vaccination program. He also said that priority will be given to school workers in the communities that are most affected by COVID-19.
Other workers in the education sector, including those employed by colleagues and childcare, will have to schedule appointments through the county or MyTurn. The same is true for farm and grocery workers and other members of the food and agricultural sectors.
Scripps Health has volunteered to vaccinate law enforcement personnel – including police – and will work with county departments to schedule shootings for them, in some cases as early as Saturday.
There is no one more date in the program for when the members of level 2 of phase 1B – including people working in transport and logistics; industrial, commercial, residential and housing facilities and services; and critical manufacturing – will be eligible for their photos. Also at this level are those employed in the congregation, including those who work with those who are imprisoned and homeless.