“Next week, most appointments will remain on our vaccination sites for second doses,” said Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer in the district health department. “We will only provide second doses on our Mega-POD (point of dispending) sites.”
The County-operated Mega-PODs are located in the Pomona Fairplex, Magic Mountain, the Forum, the County Office of Education in Downey, and Cal State Northridge.
He said the first doses will be available in other locations, primarily health centers, pharmacies “and other providers serving the areas most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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Due to the lack of doses, city-run sites such as Dodger Stadium, Hansen Dam, Crenshaw Clinic, San Fernando Clinic, and Lincoln Park Clinic have been temporarily closed. The city ran out of vaccines late last week, and the city-run sites are expected to reopen on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The county receives about 200,000 doses each week, although the actual amount varies greatly from week to week, making advance planning of reservations difficult. Supplies were so limited this week that the city of Los Angeles had to close the Dodger Stadium vaccination site and four other locations over the weekend as supplies were exhausted Thursday afternoon.
“We share their frustration,” said Simon. ‘We are all frustrated. We know we could do a lot more if we got more doses. For example, we now receive about 200,000 doses every week and as we have surveyed all of our suppliers, we are confident we can deliver up to 600,000 doses per week. So we have a much, much greater capacity if we can get the available vaccine. ”
Simon and County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis both said increasing stocks will be critical as more people qualify for the admissions – noting that the state plans to expand next month to all people 16 or older with underlying medical conditions or disabilities that make them highly susceptible to death or serious illness from COVID.
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Davis acknowledged the generally improving downward trends in day-to-day cases, but stressed that while the numbers are getting better, they are still high, and “the risk of running into someone with COVID-19 who may not know is still very high. . ” ‘
The county reported a further 137 COVID deaths Friday, while Long Beach health officials killed 14 and Pasadena one, bringing the total death toll to 18,804.
A further 3,497 new cases were also confirmed by the county, along with 124 by Long Beach and 29 by Pasadena, raising the cumulative total for the entire pandemic to 1,161,926.
The province also reported an additional 15 cases of childhood multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C, bringing the total to 90, including one death. Health officials noted that the number of MIS-C infections has increased locally by 35% in the past two weeks. The syndrome generally develops in children after having COVID-19, although it has occasionally affected patients with no known prior infection.
According to state figures, 3,426 people had been hospitalized for COVID as of Friday, with 1,032 people in intensive care. At the beginning of January, more than 8,000 people had been hospitalized because of the virus.
“So there is some positive news in terms of things coming down,” Davis said. “We want this to keep going down because as those case numbers go down, we get into less restrictive levels and can consider getting more of the economy … and have less restrictive adjustments.”
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He urged people to adhere to protocols such as masking and physical distance. He acknowledged changes that were formalized this week, allowing for resumption of indoor church services with limited capacity and restrictions on activities during services. But he stressed that despite the change, “It is still safer for places of worship to hold only outdoor and remote services. These are the safest options for those at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19 and those living with them. . ”
Davis also expressed dismay at the plans of Sun Valley’s Grace Community Church – which has repeatedly defied county and court orders by holding mass inside services – to host an in-house religious conference in early March that typically attracts more than 3,000 people pulls. He said the county is “exploring its options” to challenge the event. Such conferences have been excluded due to health restrictions, but it is unclear whether the conflict would be ruled out as a religious gathering.
On Friday night, however, the church announced that it had chosen to postpone the conference in light of “pending lawsuits and recent threats from” the county and state over the planned event.
As for vaccines, Simon said the most recent figures show 1,345,949 doses have been administered in the province, of which 1,047,074 are first doses. In total, 13.5% of the county population aged 16 and older has received at least one dose and 3.8% of that population has been fully vaccinated.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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