More than 4 Million Vaccine Doses Administered in L.A. County, Public Health Projects Vaccine Allocation and Community Protection

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health or Public Health reports more than 4,000,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to people across Los Angeles County. Of those vaccinated, 1,323,686 people received second doses. 

This translates to hundreds of thousands of people having an extra layer of protection from serious illness and death from COVID-19 in a little more than three months.  This was possible thanks to countless partners across the county, including providers, community and faith-based organizations, elected officials, and many more, who dedicated countless hours and resources to the vaccination effort.

This week, 378,400 total doses were allocated to L.A. County. The County’s allocation for this week is higher than the 279,000 doses received last week, only 6,000 of which were the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. This week, the County received 54,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. 

While the number of doses received increased, the lack of supply remains the biggest obstacle, as the county could have easily booked almost 300,000 additional appointments this week but couldn’t because there weren’t enough vaccines.

Public Health remains committed to increasing the number of vaccination sites in the hardest hit communities in L.A. County. Of the total 546 vaccination sites across the county this week, 263 are located in the hardest hit communities, including 48 in South LA and 21 sites in the Antelope Valley, both areas which have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the county.

Starting today, any resident age 50 through 64 years old will become eligible for vaccination, even if they don’t have a qualifying medical condition or disability or work in an eligible sector. There are an estimated 2 million individuals within this age group living in Los Angeles County, 631,000 of whom have already received at least one dose of vaccine as of March 27. This means that an additional 1.4 million L.A. County residents become eligible to be vaccinated starting today. Please note that unless you work in L.A. County in one of the eligible work sectors, vaccinations for individuals 50 years old and older and for those individuals with underlying health conditions/disabilities are limited to residents of L.A. County. 

Starting April 15, vaccines will become available to any resident in Los Angeles County who is 16 and older. There are 5 million residents in this age group, and Public Health estimates that 1 million have already been vaccinated with at least one dose. This leaves almost 3.9 million residents that will be eligible to be vaccinated in just a couple of weeks. This will be the largest number of people becoming eligible at any one time since the vaccination effort began in mid-December. 

Public Health is projecting an increase in doses over the next month, including doses allocated directly from federal partners and the state to pharmacies, health clinics, FEMA sites, and multi-county entities, such as Kaiser and UCLA.  By the end of April, Public Health hopes to receive 700,000 vaccine doses a week, which will greatly increase our ability to vaccinate those who are anxiously waiting for an appointment slot.

If L.A. County receives on average 576,000 doses a week starting in April, the County can expect to reach 80% vaccine coverage for people 16 and older in just 12 weeks. 

Reaching such a milestone is possible with increased allocations, and it would dramatically change the trajectory of the pandemic here in Los Angeles County. In preparation for increased allocations and expanded eligibility, Los Angeles County is working on expanding collective capacity to be able to administer 1 million doses a week by the end of April. 

Visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com  (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) for more information on who is eligible, how to make an appointment if it is your turn, and what verifications you will need when you show up for your vaccine. As a reminder, vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status. 

With the California and the U.K. variants becoming the dominant variants in the sampled specimens, it is increasingly important that everyone adheres to safety measures such as masking, social distancing, and regular routine hand washing to avoid increasing the chances that these variants circulate more widely.

When the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were approved for emergency use in mid-December, the County prioritized staff and residents at long-term care facilities and frontline healthcare workers as the first to receive the vaccine. Once Public Health began administering the vaccine, outbreaks at these settings plummeted, with outbreaks at long-term care and residential settings dropping from 189 outbreaks in early December to just 7 outbreaks in mid-February. Outbreaks at skilled nursing facilities also dropped significantly, from 87 outbreaks in early December to only 10 outbreaks in mid-February.  Outbreaks at health care facilities dropped from 31 in early December to 1 by mid-February.

This data provides a real-life example of the power of the current vaccines; while outbreaks do decrease with less community transmission, the magnitude of these declines most likely indicates that vaccines provide significant protection against transmission even in very high-risk settings.

Details: www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.