Riverside County expects to begin the next phase of its coronavirus vaccination plan – which will include people over 74, teachers and law enforcement – “immediately after next week,” Riverside County Public Health Director said Tuesday (January 12th). Kim Saruvatari.
So far, at least 28,708 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Riverside County, Saruvatari told the Riverside County Supervisory Board.
According to the national allocation plan used by Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the next phase – Phase 1b – begins with a level that includes people aged 75 and over and key education workers, law enforcement, grocery stores, farms and emergency services.
The next in line ̵
San Bernardino County is starting to vaccinate people in phase 3 of phase 1A, which includes specialized clinics and dental clinics, before reaching phase 1B, spokesman David Wert said on Tuesday.
The county has received 75,900 first doses received and 38,770 have been administered and is set to vaccinate another 26,940 people by the end of this week, Wert said. He received another 43,625 doses for a second dose.
“Continuation will depend on incoming deliveries, which are unpredictable,” Wert said.
Riverside County’s number is likely to be several thousand higher than can be counted, as health care providers have 72 hours to record that they have vaccinated someone, Saruvatari said.
So far, the limiting factor for vaccinating more people is the availability of the vaccine, she said. The county receives Pfizer and Moderna vaccines from the state based on its population and has received enough to vaccinate the same portion of its residents as other counties in California, she said.
“Once we have enough vaccine to cover those in phase 1a, we will move on to phase 1b, even if not everyone in phase 1a has been vaccinated,” Saruvatari said. “They will still have the right to be vaccinated.”
The county has a problem with people applying for vaccinations when they are not yet eligible for the vaccine, she said. These people should then be sent without a shot, she said.
“This leads to frustration with them, but also to frustration with people who can’t get the meeting they should be able to,” Saruvatari said. “… We just want the public to register when they actually qualify according to the phases of the website.”
This breakdown can be found at https://www.ruhealth.org/covid-19-vaccine or https://sbcovid19.com/vaccine/.
However, time intervals are not lost if someone who does not meet the conditions comes to a meeting, she said.
“We have a waiting list, so we vaccinate a lot more than we have slots in our vaccination clinics,” Saruvatari said.
During the same update, Bruce Barton, county emergency director, said the “unprecedented influx of hospitals” continues, with county hospitals at 91% of their licensed capacity and six counties in the county or over 100 % of licensed capacity.
Intensive care units are 133% of capacity, or 161% when only the use of intensive care units for adults is considered, he said.
“Going through the numbers just doesn’t capture the current environment that our healthcare providers are going through,” he said. “It is absolutely remarkable that in the midst of this unprecedented tide, they continue to be determined to care for our residents and visitors and find new ways to expand capacity and sometimes decide that none of us as a provider of medical services or people in “to take care of people’s business, we thought we should do it.”
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