COVID-19: Public Health clarifies second vaccine dose concerns

A health care worker gets a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital vaccination center on Friday, 011520, 011520. Dan Watson/The Signal
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Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials clarified protocols of receiving second COVID-19 doses during a press briefing Friday after growing concerns.

Emails were sent Friday to those who have already received the first vaccine dose in order for appointments to be confirmed for the second dose, according to Paul Simon, chief science officer with Public Health.

The emails were sent to confirm the date and location, with people only needing to choose their appointment time.

“We are prioritizing all persons getting their second dose,” Simon said. “Most individuals will be able to receive their second dose at the same site where they received their first dose.”

Although appointments are fully booked through the rest of the weekend, Simon said appointments for next week will be made available in the next couple days.

The county also launched a new scheduling system that would allow people to make appointments for their first and second doses simultaneously, with the appropriate time frame according to which vaccine is administered.

Those who receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are recommended to get the second dose 21 days after the first, and those who receive the Moderna vaccine are recommended to get the second dose 28 days later.

Simon added the county has received approximately 150,000 vaccine doses per week and says 700,000 doses have been administered as of Thursday. Officials hoped more doses would be able to be administered, but the county receives a limited supply each week. 

Of those, 594,975 were first doses and 124,163 were second doses. 

Those eligible to receive a vaccine are those in Phase 1A, which include health care workers and people aged 65 years or older. Simon said this group totals about 2 million in the county.

“While we are hopeful there will be an increase of supply in the vaccine in the coming weeks, there are no guarantees,” Simon said. “We’re trying to meet the need with a limited supply.”

Public Health released the following updated COVID-19 statistics Friday:

New COVID-19 cases reported in L.A. County in the past 24 hours: 7,112

Total COVID-19 cases in L.A. County: 1,104,393

New deaths related to COVID-19 reported: 228

Total COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County: 16,332

Hospitalizations countywide: 5,855; 26% of whom are in the ICU.

Hospitalizations at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Jan. 28: 74, with 992 discharged since the onset of the pandemic.

COVID-19 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley in the past 24 hours: 115, 87 of which came from the city of Santa Clarita.

Total COVID-19 cases in the SCV: 23,589

Total COVID-19 deaths in the SCV: 195, with three additional deaths reported by Henry Mayo Thursday.

The numbers of SCV cases, including all area health care providers’ daily figures and those at Pitchess Detention Center, broken down into region, are as follows:

City of Santa Clarita: 17,225

Unincorporated – Acton: 390

Unincorporated – Agua Dulce: 213

Unincorporated – Bouquet Canyon: 40

Unincorporated – Canyon Country: 694

Unincorporated – Castaic: 3,392 (majority of Castaic cases come from Pitchess Detention Center, exact number unavailable)

Unincorporated – Lake Hughes: 37

Unincorporated – Newhall: 61

Unincorporated – Placerita Canyon: 0

Unincorporated – San Francisquito Canyon/Bouquet Canyon: 13

Unincorporated – Sand Canyon: 13

Unincorporated – Saugus: 117

Unincorporated – Saugus/Canyon Country: 29

Unincorporated – Stevenson Ranch: 936

Unincorporated – Val Verde: 269

Unincorporated – Valencia: 160

To view all coronavirus-related stories, visit signalscv.com/category/news/coronavirus.

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