Ensuring All Angelenos Get Access to the Vaccine
Amidst the torrent of information about COVID-19 and the continued toll the virus has taken on our community and the entire nation, it is easy to lose sight of the miraculous, safe and astonishingly effective nature of the vaccines.
Two vaccines have already been approved and tens of millions of Americans have received their first dose. Another vaccine may be approved as soon as the end of February. And remarkably, all three of these vaccines in randomly controlled trials have all but eliminated COVID-19 deaths among those who receive the shot.
That’s an extraordinarily positive outcome for a vaccine developed in under a year to fight a disease that has killed over 500,000 Americans. Even against the variants of the disease that have begun to develop worldwide, the vaccines are proving to provide significant protection. That means there’s light at the end of the tunnel – we just have to keep wearing masks and social distancing until these vaccines are widely distributed, and make sure that people feel safe in taking them.
In Los Angeles County, vaccinations are now open to healthcare workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, and people who are age 65 or older, which accounts for approximately 2.2 million people.
As the County prepares to open eligibility for the vaccine on March 1 to three additional sectors – education and childcare, food and agriculture, and first responders and law enforcement – it is working to address challenges in vaccinating the more than 1.8 million workers that will become eligible. This includes partnering with schools, unions, businesses, health care providers and community partners to set up sector-specific vaccination sites.
But it’s also clear we need to address the racial and socioeconomic disparities in access to vaccines, and ensure that essential workers and communities that have been hardest hit by this virus are able to get protected. The vast majority of Americans will need to get vaccinated before we can beat this virus but, by prioritizing those who are most at risk, we can save tens of thousands of lives over the next several months.
Perhaps most vexing remains the question of how to safely reopen schools. Data show that when safety measures are in place, schools are not high-risk settings for transmission of COVID-19. But when cases rise exponentially in our communities that can have a ripple effect on cases of COVID-19 among staff and students in our schools. To keep students and school staff safe, we as a community must do our part to keep transmission across the county as low as possible.
Though vaccines will become more widely available in the coming weeks, it can’t happen fast enough. It’s important that we get the shot to as many people as we can, and that we get people the information they need to understand why everyone who can get this shot should get it, and combat misinformation. If you have a medical condition that you believe affects your ability to get vaccinated, please discuss it with your doctor.
I encourage all Angelenos to visit the website www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish) to sign up for available appointments, learn about the vaccination phases, determine when it is your turn to get vaccinated, and sign-up for the COVID-19 vaccine newsletter.
Life will not return to normal until the vast majority of the country has been vaccinated, but we will get there. And I am doing all I can to make sure Congress provides the resources to state and local governments so that we get the vaccine distributed just as fast as it can be produced. In the meantime, let’s do our part to stay healthy and safe.