UC San Diego’s San Diego medical system is the first in the county to administer vaccines to the expanded pool, officials said Friday.
So far, San Diego facilities, many of which said earlier this week that they would follow state and CDC guidelines and would begin giving vaccines to residents 65 and older, giving limited doses to level 1A members, who are mostly health workers and residents of assisted living centers.
In fact, the county issued a statement earlier that day about some advancing hospitals: “San Diego, 65 or older, is the next priority group for COVID-19 vaccination. However, due to the limited dose supply in the region, only a few healthcare providers have vaccine available for their patients in this group ”.
UC San Diego Health began vaccinating patients Thursday.
“[The] the goal is to vaccinate approximately 500 patients a day at UC San Diego’s health facilities, “UC San Diego Health said in a statement released Friday afternoon.” This adds to the nearly 10,000 UC San Diego Health employees who have already received the first dose in Phase 1A. “
Thousands of assisted living residents are waiting to get their COVID-19 vaccines. Alexis Rivas of NBC 7 spoke with a recently vaccinated person about the process.
Dalia Talamantez was one of the first in the group of more than 65 level 1B patients to get a shot.
“I get vaccinated because I want to protect myself from the virus,” Talamantez is quoted as saying in a press release sent by UCSD Health. “It inspired me to get this vaccine because I’ve seen a lot of relatives and friends affected by this virus. So it’s absolutely wonderful and lovely for me to be able to get it soon.”
Deployment of vaccines in the United States is moving more slowly than expected and is causing concern among those most at risk of catching COVID-19, reports Melissa Adan of NBC 7
UCSD prioritizes patients who are at serious risk for COVID-19 infection and who have comorbidities, officials said. Those who meet the requirements “will receive a direct invitation to be vaccinated through their electronic medical record or a direct call from their health care provider.”
UCSD Health officials, who are concerned that phone lines are overflowing, are urging patients not to call health care providers directly and instead ask them to wait to be contacted.
The county also said Friday that when it is ready to begin vaccinating the pool over the age of 65, it would be making several efforts to contact those who are eligible, including posting information at coronavirus-sd.com/vaccine.
One of the reasons the priority of the group of more than 65 patients has been raised is that their members are more likely to die from the disease. Another is widespread frustration over the slow introduction of the vaccine, which has caused many states to open eligibility to the nation’s 54 million seniors.
On Wednesday, state public health officials followed federal guidelines by announcing that people age 65 and older could get the vaccine and join the next, already admissible, level of emergency workers, teachers, health care providers. daycare and food and agriculture workers grouped at level 1B. The decision baffled some officials, who said they don’t even have enough doses to vaccinate those at level 1A.
San Diego County, home to 3.3 million people, has received more than 241,000 doses and administered more than 92,000, although the overall number is likely to be higher because the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs they also offer vaccines to the large military presence in the region. .
San Diego has about 620,000 health workers and long-term health center residents at Level 1A. If people 65 and older meet the requirements for the vaccine, 500,000 more people join.
“It’s great for the state to say,‘ Hey, people 65 and older are eligible to get vaccines, ’but that requires counties to have the vaccines,” said Nathan Fletcher, the county supervisor.
California has received more than 2.4 million doses of vaccine as of Monday, but only a third have been used. Meanwhile, local governments are making rapid progress in establishing massive vaccine distribution sites in hopes of being able to convince state and federal officials to send them more doses. San Diego opened the so-called super center this week in the Tailgate Park parking lot, outside of Petco Park, where thousands of people have been shot.