California will begin administering the COVID-19 vaccine Monday, but officials warned that initially exporting 327,000 doses would not change the rapidly deteriorating conditions in government hospitals because the virus is out of control. Medical workers were expected to receive the first dose of the vaccine through a limited number of hospitals in California, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA Health and Roddy Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Officials expect more vaccines to be available later this month and again in early January. This is the welcome of hope. But a significant number of vaccines are expected months before they hit the general population. Health officials are battling the unprecedented rise of COVID-19, which has spread across California. On Saturday, authorities announced another critical milestone as the Central Valley hit the remaining emergency room capacity of 0%. The remaining capacity of Southern California ICUs dropped to just 5.3 percent because authorities expect several days of increasing cases among Thanksgiving victims. “When vaccines are in the corner, they may not be here at the right time to prevent our hospitals from compromising on caring for seriously ill people,” said Barbara Ferrer, LA County Health Director. Said a physician at an LA County General Hospital. You are asked to fill out questionnaires to determine the priority for a vaccine. Workers ask questions about how closely they interact with COVID-19 patients, how often, as well as their own health conditions and age. The doctor, who requested anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak to the media, said the vaccine would prevent the “relentless onslaught” of COVID-19 patients who have recently flooded hospitals. “Everyone I spoke to was waiting for their vaccine to suffocate, and then let out a deep sigh,” the doctor said Saturday. Staff were expected to receive the vaccine on Thursday or Friday. Trucks shipping the first vaccine in the United States will begin Sunday morning, and several million doses will be delivered to 150 locations across the state on Monday, officials said Saturday. The vaccine, developed by Pfizer Inc. and Bioendech, will reach an additional 450 locations on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Trump administration’s vaccine development program Operation Warp Speed’s Army General Gustav F. Berna told a news conference in Washington. Berna has been working with UPS and FedEx, California and other local governments across the country on the massive distribution operation described in terms of military logistics. He compared Saturday’s announcement to T-Day, a turning point in World War II. “I am 100% confident that we will be able to safely distribute this precious commodity needed to defeat the enemy Govt,” Berna said. The initial shipment of about 3 million shots is expected to leave Pfizer’s manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo, Mich., By truck and then be shipped to centers across the country. A similar amount is to be reserved for the second dose of patients. California received FDA approval on Friday evening, after FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said it had “met the FDA’s strict scientific standards for safety, performance and product quality.” The vaccine has already been approved in other countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada. “FDA approval for the urgent use of the first Govt-19 vaccine is a significant milestone in combating this devastating epidemic that has affected many families in the United States. And around the world, ”Hahn said in a statement Friday. Dr. Peter Marx, director of the FDA’s Center for Biological Assessment and Research, said the vaccine “promises to change the course of the epidemic in the United States.” Washington is a group of scientists and experts representing the states of California. , Oregon and Nevada are considering vaccinating separately from the FDA process, and the government will issue a recommendation by Sunday, Gavin Newsom said in a statement. Still, a very small number of people will be vaccinated this year, and early exports to California will “mostly end up in hospital settings,” Dr. Robert Schechter, California Medical Officer of Health, told participants at a vaccination advisory board Wednesday. Berna said local health officials will decide who gets the first shots. , But are generally preferred by medical staff and residents of long-term care institutions. The state Department of Public Health selected at least seven hospitals to receive the vaccines based on their storage capacity, the relatively high risk of their health population and their ability to distribute the vaccine to the community once the vaccine is widely available. Davis Health said in a news release. In Northern California, U.S.C. San Francisco Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center in Redding and U.C. in Sacramento. Davis Health includes. Hospitals should also store vaccines at the required minimum temperature: minus 70 degrees Celsius (approximately minus 95 degrees Fahrenheit). Hospital officials, who planned to receive the vaccines, said they were working to distribute the first doses equally and according to guidelines issued by federal and local health officials. U.C. Davis Health formed a task force and developed an integrated approach to vaccinating employees several weeks later regarding the risk of infection associated with the types of work they do, the health organization said. In the emergency department, top job classifications include guard workers, doctors, nurses, first responders and clerks, officials said. The health organization says it is ready to vaccinate 400 employees every day. Vaccine exports may not come to California anytime soon. The government on Friday marked another milestone, with a total of 1.5 million corona virus cases. The government is adding an average of 29,000 new infections a day, a staggering number daily. More than 20,700 Californians have died, which has been eclipsed by Texas and New York alone. The United States reached another drastic daily record on Friday, recording 3,309 deaths related to COVID-19. It surpassed the previous one-day high of 3,124 deaths recorded on Wednesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Friday saw more than 231,000 confirmed cases daily. This is almost 4,000 more than the previous record set in December. U capacity continued to fall, with Southern California reporting a 5.3% increase on Saturday, down from 6.2 percent a day earlier, while San Joaquin Valley recorded a potential low of zero to 4.5 percent a day earlier. The number of 19-patients rose to 4,000, according to data released Saturday. District public health officials said Saturday that 11,476 new cases of the virus and 70 related Chose a list of brilliant statistics that illustrate how quickly deaths and spreads have risen. Over the past month, the five-day average of new cases has increased by 370%, d eaths by 416%, the rate of positive tests by 141% and hospital admissions by 303%, officials said. LA County will receive its first 83,000 COVID-19 vaccines soon Monday, the county supervisor said. Janice Hahn. They will first be sent to nine facilities with an UltraColt freezer, then distributed to 83 intensive care hospitals and delivered to health workers based on their risk level, the district public health department said. Vaccines will be sent directly to the skilled nursing facilities provided to staff and residents; Other types of long-term care facilities can get vaccines from CVS and Walcreens through a joint venture program, LA County Health officials said. According to the Department of Public Health, the county expects to receive two more batches of vaccines in December and then weekly batches in the new year. District health officials said they were planning a three-phase roll. After the first phase with health workers and institutional residents and staff, the focus will be on the second essential workers, and the third on high-risk groups, including seniors and those with chronic health conditions. Officials were still making details of how people would be prioritized within broad groups. Han said he hopes essential workers will begin vaccinating in early February. “This is great news – but we are not out in the woods yet,” Han said in a statement Saturday. The second vaccine, developed by pharmaceutical company Moderna in partnership with national health agencies, could be approved for emergency use next week, according to Shechetter of the California Department of Public Health. In total, California expects at least 2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of December and about 6 million by the end of January, he said. Times staff writers Rong-Kong Lin II, Maya Lau, Laura Nelson and Jacqueline Kaskrov contributed to the report.
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