Donaciano Estrada, 68, and his wife Rosario, 65, waited less than an hour on Thursday to receive the first dose of the 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 arranged to meet.
immunized.
“I want to be healthy,” Donaciano Estrada told La Opinion when he explained why he decided to get the dose. “I don’t want to get sick.”
Originally from Zacatecas, Mexico, Estrada’s husbands were registered by their daughter on the web portal
VaccineerLACounty.com. The request for an appointment can also be made in Spanish.
“I love my parents and that’s why I took the time to get them vaccinated,” said María Estrada, a cleaner in a medical office.
The only downside was that Mrs. Rosario didn’t know where they were taking her. Her family said she did not want to be vaccinated because they had heard that some people who received the injection had side reactions.
“She’s nervous, so when we got to the vaccination site, she had no choice but to resign,” said her husband.
After the vaccination and waiting in their car for 15 minutes, 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 the Inglewood Forum, Dodgers Stadium, Pomona Fairplex, the County Office of Education’s Downey Education Center, and Cal State Northridge (CSUN), a total of 8,302 people received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The next day, we vaccinated 25% more people in the five centers,” said Jesús Ruiz, spokesman for The Forum. “We estimate that we vaccinate up to 4,000 people every day at each vaccination center,” as noted above.
Increased immunization efforts resulted from the signing of an executive order by Los Angeles County supervisor, Hilda Solís, which aims to make COVID-19 vaccines available to residents 65 or older starting Jan. 21.
“For the past few weeks, Los Angeles County has been administering the vaccine to primary care health workers so they can stay safe while doing important life-saving work … [También] to residents and staff in skilled nursing homes and long-term care facilities, ”said Solís.
Launching the vaccine has been a daunting task, especially during an unprecedented peak in which cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to soar.
The state opened the option to vaccinate people 65 and older earlier this month, but Los Angeles County needed a few more days to organize distribution to this group.
“While the vaccine didn’t arrive, I covered my face with my mask wherever I went … And when my kids wanted to see us, we only met at home about seven,” said Donaciano Estrada. “You had to take care of yourself and thank god no one got sick.”
Millions of vaccines
According to health authorities, Los Angeles County needs more than 4 million doses to deliver the two-dose vaccine protocol to all health professionals, which number about 800,000 people, along with 1.3 million residents 65 years of age or older.
However, so far the province has received only 853,650 doses. Once the 2.2 million residents on the current priority list, including health professionals and residents of long-term intensive care units, are vaccinated, an additional eight million residents, each requiring two doses of vaccines, will be missing.
“I would like to get vaccinated. I spoke to my insurance company and they told me to put myself on a waiting list,” said Socorro Batanero, 83, of Monterey Park.
“I’m getting vaccinated at a CVS pharmacy and maybe it’ll wait until March, after which time I’m still incarcerated … I wouldn’t be encouraged to go to those places they have opened in the county, they are too far away and I’m afraid to drive there. “
According to estimates by Dr. Seira Kurian, Director of the Medical Affairs Department
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, next week the county will receive 143,900 doses, but 106,000 of those – more than 70% – will be used as second doses for health professionals 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 doesn’t hurt at all; the tension she brought is stronger, ”said her husband Don Donaciano.
“I think she was impressed because she went on an empty stomach … not me, I ate a taco of potatoes cooked with tomato and onion.”