Coronavirus Vaccines Delayed Again in San Diego – This Time Due to Snow Weather – NBC 7 San Diego

While it may not snow much in San Diego County, snow and severe weather in other parts of the United States are affecting vaccine delivery in our region, which will cause delays in local vaccinations.

In a weekly briefing focused on COVID-19 updates, San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said the county had received the news that several shipments of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine planned to arrive in the county this week of San Diego will not arrive due to inclement weather affecting the country.

“This will affect our ability to administer vaccines this week,” Fletcher said. “A second set of delays will have a very significant impact on our system.”

Moderna’s main manufacturing plant is in Michigan, while Pfizer is in Massachusetts, county officials said.

Fletcher said routes from these facilities to San Diego County have been affected by the severe winter weather.

Supervisor Nathan Fletcher detailed the reasons for the delays in sending vaccines during a press conference on February 17, 2021.

As a result of the delays in sending vaccines, Fletcher said the county will have to stop vaccinations in some places as early as Thursday.

“We’re also very likely to reschedule appointments,” he explained. “We are grateful for everyone’s patience. We continue to monitor the situation. We will adjust and, as a county, continue to do our best to get the vaccines in our arms as soon as possible. “

San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said some local coronavirus vaccination sites will have to “pause” vaccinations as early as Thursday due to the delay, NBC’s Omari Fleming reports.

NBC 7 is working to gather information on specific vaccination sites that will experience these delays.

As of Wednesday, county public health officials said the county had administered 663,000 coronavirus vaccines.

Fletcher said the county is “frustrated” by the delays and understands the public will feel that same frustration.

He said county public health officials believe supply chain problems “will be resolved in the next week in up to 10 days.”

“We have a high degree of confidence that in the first week of March we will be able to move to this first level of essential workers: teachers, agriculture and law enforcement,” Fletcher added at Wednesday’s briefing. “We believe we have reached a place where we have reached a significant number of seniors and as the supply arrives, we believe we will be able to do so in the first week of March.”

Fletcher said Wednesday he did not expect the delays to be significant enough to push anyone scheduled for a second dose beyond the six-week period advised by the Centers for Disease Control, as most follow-up shots are scheduled. for two or three weeks. after the initial shot.

However, the county supervisor said the delivery delay and subsequent shortage may affect some appointments for the first shots.

“[There] will put a huge strain on the system to meet second-dose appointments, which means that except for some significant changes in supply chains, the availability of first-dose appointments for the next week to 10 days is likely to be quite limited. said Fletcher.