Officials from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services announced on Wednesday that immediate appointments were available for vaccines at the federally operated site in Cal State LA, regardless of eligibility.
But on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. everything changed and people were sent away.
The OES told Eyewitness News that appointments for eligible people got packed overnight. That meant that those who did not have an appointment, between the ages of 18-50, would not be able to receive a vaccine as previously thought. That’s an issue the site hadn’t run into all week.
Many who came to the site with a sense of relief that they might get their chance quickly became frustrated.
“We’ve been waiting in line for about an hour now … slightly over, a lot of people have been,” said Studio City’s Dan Marcus. “(We were told) it was okay to come in here. We are in the front of the queue and now they are telling us to make arrangements and we are not eligible to be admitted.”
Thursday’s situation is in stark contrast to Wednesday, when people got in without any problems.
“Oh, the process was great, my goodness, it was so quick,” said Anthony Marquez. “(I) got in line at 4:44 PM and I was on my way home at 5:22 PM”
Officials say they will prioritize appointments made through the state’s website, My Turn.
Before those appointments were quickly filled, the LA County director of public health said it was likely the result of scheduling issues and not a sign of declining demand.
Barbara Ferrer also said that even if there is a sudden widespread availability of appointments, it doesn’t mean the county should immediately expand eligibility to everyone 16 and older, which is scheduled for April 15.
“There are 5.5 million people in (currently) eligible groups, and all have not received their first dose,” Ferrer said. … We only opened to people 50 and older a few days ago so we’re going to keep making sure there is good access. ”
LA County officials are pushing for vaccination before COVID-19 variants get a foothold
The provincial health ministry even announced online availability of Thursday vaccination appointments at the county-run vaccine sites, most notably the large-scale site on Six Flags Magic Mountain.
But Ferrer noted that appointment schedules often open in waves, as sites cannot list available appointments until they are confident of their supply of doses.
“One of the dilemmas here is that we’re still struggling to really release appointments in advance, and many of us can really only release appointments a few days in advance when … people can go and get vaccinated,” said they.’ We are really trying to work hard to get a better forecast. ”
Often times when people go online and find a wealth of available slots, “it’s because someone just made a lot of hookups,” Ferrer said.
She said health officials are monitoring activities at the different vaccination sites, and if the agreements are not fulfilled, capacity will be increased in other locations with greater demand. She said the county is “investigating what might explain why we have more availability in some locations this week,” but she said vaccine doses are not going unused. She noted that the county generally receives about 95% of the doses it receives within seven days.
“ The goal is always here, and we’ve been great at this … (to) get vaccine into people’s arms within a seven-day period, and we never transfer a vaccine from one week to another , ” she said. “And we have always achieved that goal.”
She said she had not anticipated a reversal of that trend this week, despite a sudden increase in the number of appointments available.
“Until we start to see a problem with actually keeping appointments for the rest of the week this week, I’d say we’re well on the way to getting those doses actually delivered,” she said.
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