This week we began the essential work of vaccinating LA County residents 65 and older. In the past few days, I have heard from so many of you who have already been vaccinated or have an appointment to get your first dose soon.
I did hear from some of you who ran into problems making an appointment either on the website or over the phone. There have been serious problems with the rollout of vaccinations and I know many of you are frustrated. We are working around the clock to increase the capacity of the call center and a new online registration system will launch next week.
In the meantime, I think everyone 65 and older needs to get vaccinated as soon as they can. 70% of the people dying of COVID-19 are in this age group and the sooner we can get you vaccinated, the sooner we can save lives.
Go to VaccinateLACounty.com to make an appointment. Our supply of these vaccines is limited so appointments have filled up quickly. If appointments appear full, continue to check back frequently. New appointments will be added as we receive additional vaccine doses.
At your appointment, you will need to show proof of your age as well as proof that you live in LA County. For example, that could be a driver’s license, or your MediCare card and something with your name and address on it like a utility bill. Click here for a full list of options.
Where To Get Vaccinated
On Tuesday we opened five mass vaccination sites that can each vaccinate 4,000 people per day. The five sites are: the Forum in Inglewood, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Cal State Northridge, the Fairplex in Pomona, and the L.A. County Office of Education’s Education Center in Downey.
Vaccinations are also available at local pharmacies, community clinics, and sites run by the City of Los Angeles like Dodger Stadium.
Looking Ahead
We are working to get more vaccination sites open and I think it is important that we utilize local elementary schools.
I will update you when we are able to begin vaccinating people in Tier 1B, which includes workers like teachers and grocery store workers. I think that this tier should also include the thousands of port workers who keep our supply chain running. But in the meantime, you can find out what tier you are in and estimated timelines by visiting VaccinateLACounty.com.
In LA County we need to vaccinate 10 million people, twice. It is going to take time and it is going to depend on vaccine supplies. But the work is underway and every person that we vaccinate builds our collective immunity against this virus.
-Supervisor Janice Hahn