NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) The Tennessee Department of Health hasconfirmed additional cases and deaths related to COVID-19 across the state for Sunday, January 24.
The total COVID-19 case count for Tennessee is 708,717 as of January 24, 2021 including 8,859 deaths, 2,128 current hospitalizations and 654,335 are inactive/recovered. Percent positive today is 9.78%. For the full report with additional data: https://t.co/jlAz8a6Upp. pic.twitter.com/K3dDTOQSVc
The health department reported 2,841 new cases, bringing the state to 708,717 total cases. Of those cases, 603,856 are confirmed and104,861 are probable.
TDH also confirmed 40 additional deaths, bringing Tennessee up to8,859 total deaths.
Out of the confirmed positive cases, 654,335 are listed as inactive/recovered, an increase of 3,052 in the last 24 hours.
There are 2,128 people currently hospitalized in the state.
Tennessee has processed6,184,590 tests. The latest update added 25,830 tests to the states total.
Vaccine Tracker
TDH updated TennesseesCOVID-19 Vaccination Planon Friday.
Protecting Medically Fragile Children and Adults
Tennessee has added people living in households with medically fragile children to Phase 1c of the states COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. Vaccination of their parents, caregivers and other household residents will help protect these children, as at this time no COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for use in children under age 16. Phase 1c also includes people age 16 and older who have medical conditions that put them at high risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19. This group is further defined in the updated plan, and occurs earlier in Tennessees plan than in federal vaccination recommendations.
Correctional Officers and Jailers in Phase 1a1
Tennessee correctional officers and jailers have been added to Phase 1a1 of Tennessees COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. These Tennesseans work in settings and roles that require frequent direct public exposure through close contact in confined spaces, placing them at high risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.
Prioritizing Age-Based Risk
Age-based criteria run concurrently to the phases in age brackets beginning with those aged 75 and above.
Appointments for Tennesseans eligible under the Phase 1 rollout of the vaccine can sign up for anappointment online.
And to see what the vaccine availability is in your county, click here.
During Thursdays Metro Coronavirus Task Force update, local officials deemed vaccines as the No. 1 tool to getting back to some sort of normal life. However, the vaccine is in short supply, leaving many wondering if they will ever receive one at all.
Mass COVID-19 vaccination sites are popping up across the country but not here in Tennessee.Places like Nissan Stadium in Nashville will not be used as a mass vaccination super site, at least for now. The Tennessee Department of Health said mass vaccination centers are not on its radar at this time. The Metro Nashville Public Health Department told News 2 large venues could cause huge crowds and become super spreader events if not managed properly.
COVID-19 in Tennessee
On Tuesday, Governor Bill Lee extended an executive order, which added additional restrictions on who may attend sporting events in the state.
A more contagious strain of COVID-19 could sweep through the country and become the dominant variant of the virus by March, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
TDH announced two confirmed cases of the new strain in the state on Thursday, making Tennessee one of more than 20 states in the country reporting COVID-19 cases caused by variants.
COVID-19 in Nashville
Metro Schools will continue to hold all classes in the virtual environment stating the decision to continue online classes is due to the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 throughout Nashville and the state of Tennessee.
While MNPS say their COVID-19 Risk Score remains too high to go back, some parents believe the numbers the district should be focusing on are their childrens grades. As of January 7, 18.4 percent of the district was marked as failing.
A Nashville-based company has launched new technology to ease problems with the COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Overcoming COVID
With vaccinations now underway, what will life in Nashville be like six months from now? News 2 looked at what it might take for Middle Tennessee to return to some form of normalcy in a special report Overcoming COVID: A Peek Into the Future.
Stay with News 2 for continuing coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
MADISON (WKOW) -- Six more people were added to the total of those who have died in Wisconsin because of COVID-19, according to the latest numbers from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Deaths for each day arereported by DHS HERE.
DHS also reported 67 people were newly-hospitalized.
As of Saturday afternoon, 771COVID-19 patientswere being treated in Wisconsin hospitals, down 14 from the day prior.
Of those, 172 are in the ICU, down 6 from the day before,according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association.
There have been 1,119 positive COVID-19 tests since yesterday in Wisconsin and 5,212 negative results.
(CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL DHS DASHBOARD)
The Department of Health Servicesdashboardshows the seven-day average of both positive tests by day and test by person.(CHART)
(App users, see the daily reports and charts HERE.)
Of all positive cases reported since the pandemic began, 504,238 or 94.6 percent, are considered recovered.
As of Friday a total of 310,256 vaccines have been administered throughout Wisconsin.
A total of 56,680 Wisconsin residents have gotten both doses of the vaccine, on Friday.
DHS now has a county-level dashboard to assess the COVID-19 activity levelin counties and Healthcare Emergency Readiness Coalition regions that measure what DHS calls the burden in each county.View the dashboard HERE.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services updates the statistics each dayon its website around 2 p.m.
(Our entire coronavirus coverage is available here.)
The new strain of the coronavirus causes the disease COVID-19. Symptoms include cough, fever and shortness of breath. A full list of symptoms is available onthe Centers for Disease Control website.
In severe cases, pneumonia can develop. Those most at risk include the elderly, people with heart or lung disease as well as anyone at greater risk of infection.
For most, the virus is mild, presenting similarly to a common cold or the flu.
Anyone who thinks they may have the disease should call ahead to a hospital or clinic before going in for a diagnosis. Doing so gives the staff time to take the proper precautions so the virus does not spread.
Those needing emergency medical services should continue to use 911.
(County by county results are available here).
by: News Channel 11 Staff
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) The Tennessee Department of Health reported 112 new COVID-19 cases and five new deaths in Northeast Tennessee on Sunday.
New cases by county: Washington 36, Sullivan 29, Hawkins 20, Greene 17, Carter 8, Johnson 2, Unicoi 0.
There are currently 2,429 active cases in Northeast Tennessee, down from 2,505 yesterday. This marks the eighth consecutive day of declining active cases.
To date, there have been 45,468 cases and 813 deaths in Northeast Tennessee since the pandemic began.
The total COVID-19 case count for Tennessee is 708,717 as of January 24, 2021 including 8,859 deaths, 2,128 current hospitalizations and 654,335 are inactive/recovered. Percent positive today is 9.78%. For the full report with additional data: https://t.co/jlAz8a6Upp. pic.twitter.com/K3dDTOQSVc
The following data was reported in local counties: (number in parenthesis is change since yesterday)
Carter CountyTotal cases: 5,199Inactive/recovered: 4,874 (+7)Deaths: 119 (+3)Active cases: 206 (-2)New cases: 8
Greene CountyTotal cases: 6,766Inactive/recovered: 6,265 (+31)Deaths: 116 (+1)Active cases: 385 (-15)New cases: 17
Hawkins CountyTotal cases: 4,606Inactive/recovered: 4,228 (+31)Deaths: 72Active cases: 306 (-11)New cases: 20
Johnson CountyTotal cases: 2,052Inactive/recovered: 1,906 (+9)Deaths: 34Active cases: 112 (-7)New cases: 2
Sullivan CountyTotal cases: 12,961Inactive/recovered: 12,037 (+51)Deaths: 220Active cases: 704 (-22)New cases: 29
Unicoi CountyTotal cases: 1,700Inactive/recovered: 1,557 (+5)Deaths: 45Active cases: 98 (-5)New cases: 0
Washington CountyTotal cases: 12,184Inactive/recovered: 11,361 (+49)Deaths: 205 (+1)Active cases: 618 (-14)New cases: 36
Santa Clara County will not provide Good Samaritan any more doses of COVID-19 vaccine unless it follows the rules, a sanction issued by health officials after this news organization reported hospital leaders allowed an affluent school district to skip the line and get vaccinated ahead of seniors and other vulnerable populations.
Good Samaritans actions are inconsistent with both the letter and spirit of the States direction on vaccine eligibility, Santa Clara County COVID-19 testing officer Dr. Marty Fenstersheib wrote in a letter to the hospitals leadership on Jan. 22.
Fenstersheib said the county will provide enough vaccine to cover second doses for people already vaccinated at Good Samaritan, but will withhold additional vaccine doses unless and until Good Samaritan provides sufficient assurances it will follow state and county rules for vaccine distribution.
As first reported by San Jos Spotlight on Friday, Los Gatos Union School District Superintendent Paul Johnson emailed teachers and staff telling them they can sign up to get a vaccine at Good Samaritan at the behest of the hospitals chief operating officer.
Educators are not yet allowed to receive vaccines in Santa Clara County. The county follows state guidelines for vaccine distribution and barely has enough doses to vaccinate health care workers and people 75 and older. Good Samaritan itself reported to the county it is only vaccinating health care workers due to the shortage in vaccine supply.
Yet the staff at the Los Gatos school district, one of the most affluent in the county, was allowed to skip the line and sign up for vaccines as a reward for helping raise money for meals for hospital workers. Johnson encouraged teachers and staff to pretend to be health care workers when they sign up for a vaccine appointment at the behest of the hospitals top leadership.
As a result, Good Samaritan has not begun to broadly vaccinate persons 65 years of age and older, much less made focused and appropriate efforts to reach that group, Fenstersheib wrote in his letter Friday. Nonetheless, Good Samaritan offered to LGUSD that its staff, who are not health care workers, could make appointments and obtain vaccinations through Good Samaritan.
Fenstersheibadded thatGood Samaritans actions are problematic for multiple reasons, including not adhering to state and county guidelines,and putting Los Gatos teachers and staff ahead of those in areas hit much harder by COVID-19.
Good Samaritans decision to offer vaccination only to LGUSD staff also rewarded employees of a school district that had provided fundraising that assisted Good Samaritan employees, rather than prioritizing older educators or those from areas of the County with high prevalence of COVID-19, Fenstersheib wrote.
The move left some teachers outraged.
R.J. Fisher Middle School teacher Jim Fredette asked board members during a Jan. 21 meeting to demand Johnson rescind the offer because its unethical. He pointed to the fact that staff had to lie and attest under penalty of perjury that they were health care workers when signing up for the shots.
So this tumultuous episode in LGUSD history has reached its climax, Fredette said. While my 75-year-old Vietnam veteran father and 71-year old mother with metastatic breast cancer wait at home for appointments, district leadership has found a back door for Los Gatos teachers to receive vaccinations.
The drive to reopen Los Gatos schools and please the loudest parents, Fredette said, have broken our district leadership.
Some board members, however, said they didnt see anything unethical about the arrangement.
Lets be clear, the district did not reach out to Good Samaritan, Board President Daniel Snyder said. Good Samaritan reached out to the district to offer this to educators.
Los Gatos schools have not resumed in-person classes. The district has plans to open once cases in Santa Clara County fall below 25 cases per 100,000 residents.According to the states COVID-19 dashboard, the county averaged 67 cases per 100,000 this week.
Despite speculation from sources that Johnson sends his own kids to Los Gatos Union School District schools potentially raising questions about whether he could personally gain from the move the superintendent told San Jos Spotlight his children are adults.
But after the news broke Friday, Johnson sent a follow-up email to Los Gatos Union School District staff and teachers denying that the vaccinations had been part of a quid pro quo. Johnsons original email cited the fundraiser as a reason school staff can get a vaccine now because the hospital remembers their kindness in raising money for meals.
In my email to you, I mentioned the service opportunity last year. (Feed Our Heroes) We did that out of the sincerity of our hearts for the medical frontline workers as part of a Los Gatos community-wide effort, Johnson wrote. We did not give to get. The Good Sam vaccination efforts are not tied to our service, and Im sorry if this was miscommunicated.
By only offering vaccines to a certain school district, Fenstersheib continued in his letter, the hospital created additional confusion over who is eligible for a vaccine right now. As a result, other educators now incorrectly expect that they will be able to get a vaccine through Good Samaritan or other hospitals in the county.
The state earlier this month began vaccinating residents 65 and older, but health care providers in Santa Clara County, including Kaiser, are onlyvaccinating people 75 and updue to a vaccine shortage.
Fenstersheib finally laid out an ultimatum for Good Samaritan Hospital in his letter.
The County will provide Good Samaritan with sufficient vaccine doses to complete vaccination of those people who Good Samaritan has already administered a first vaccine dose for, Fenstersheib wrote, but the County will not provide Good Samaritan with any additional vaccine doses unless and until Good Samaritan provides sufficient assurances it will follow State and County direction on vaccine eligibility and provides the County with a concrete plan through with Good Samaritan will do so.
Contact Madelyn Reese at [emailprotected] and follow her @MadelynGReese on Twitter.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of January 23, 2021, there have been1,831,351 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 114,752 total cases and 1,872 total deaths.
A death reported on January 12, 2021 of a 72-year old female from Upshur County was reported in error and has been removed from the total death count.
DHHR has confirmed the deaths of an 80-year old male from Summers County, an 88-year old male from Summers County, a 65-year old female from Cabell County, an 87-year old male from Hampshire County, an 83-year old male from Wood County, an 84-year old male from Wood County, a 69-year old male from Pleasants County, a 64-year old female from Wood County, a 76-year old male from Harrison County, a 69-year old female from Preston County, a 65-year old male from Nicholas County, a 95-year old male from Lewis County, a 68-year old male from Preston County, a 62-year old male from Wood County, an 89-year old female from Wood County, an 81-year old female from Wyoming County, and a 70-year old female from Logan County.
We mourn the tragic loss of these West Virginians and send our deepest sympathies to their loved ones, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary.
CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (1,057), Berkeley (8,469), Boone (1,372), Braxton (721), Brooke (1,837), Cabell (6,728), Calhoun (202), Clay (324), Doddridge (393), Fayette (2,274), Gilmer (549), Grant (946), Greenbrier (2,137), Hampshire (1,302), Hancock (2,380), Hardy (1,136), Harrison (4,215), Jackson (1,545), Jefferson (3,139), Kanawha (10,628), Lewis (782), Lincoln (1,093), Logan (2,218), Marion (3,122), Marshall (2,640), Mason (1,470), McDowell (1,183), Mercer (3,795), Mineral (2,403), Mingo (1,847), Monongalia (6,741), Monroe (849), Morgan (848), Nicholas (990), Ohio (3,218), Pendleton (518), Pleasants (749), Pocahontas (545), Preston (2,336), Putnam (3,647), Raleigh (3,883), Randolph (2,085), Ritchie (527), Roane (437), Summers (645), Taylor (955), Tucker (430), Tyler (540), Upshur (1,406), Wayne (2,220), Webster (236), Wetzel (952), Wirt (310), Wood (6,302), Wyoming (1,477).
Delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state border to be tested.
HOUSTON The Texas Department of State Health Services announced its COVID-19 vaccination allocation for the week of Jan. 25. The list includes only the first doses of the vaccine.
Here are the Houston-area locations to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, not necessarily where vaccinations are occurring:
Chambers County Health Department Anahuac, 102 Airport Road, Anahuac: 1,200 doses
Fort Bend County Health Department, 4520 Reading Road, Rosenberg: 6,825 doses
University Of Texas Medical Branch Hospital, 301 University Blvd., Galveston: 4,875 doses
Galveston County Health District, 9850 B Emmett F Lowry Expy., Texas City: 1,000 doses
Chi St Lukes Health, 6720 Bertner Ave, Houston: 1,950 doses
HCPH Main Office, 2223 West Loop South, Houston: 9,000 doses
Houston Health Department Immunization Bureau 8000 N Stadium Drive, Houston:9,000 doses
Houston Methodist Hospital, 6565 Fannin Street, Houston: 12,675 doses
Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center, 6411 Fannin Street, Houston: 3,900 doses
School Of Nursing, Main Building, 1851 Crosspoint Ave., Houston: 3,900 doses
Emergency Hospital Systems, 300 East Crockett, Cleveland: 975 doses
CHI St. Lukes Health Woodlands Hospital, 17200 St. Lukes Way, Conroe, 1,950 doses
Lone Star Family Health Center, 605 South Conroe Medical Drive, Conroe, 2,000 doses
Washington County EMS, 1875 Highway, Brenham, 2,000 doses
Beverly Goad, 89, receives her COVID-19 vaccine at the Corona High School gymnasium in the Riverside County city of Corona, California on January 15, 2021, a day after California began offering the coronavirus vaccine to residents 65 and older. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
Many residents hoping to secure one of the highly sought after COVID-19 vaccine appointments were extremely frustrated Thursday when they were unable to gain access to the Riverside County website.
But officials hope that wont happen again on Saturday when thousands of new appointment slots are expected to open.
The countys new COVID-19 vaccine website is expected to provide residents with a more efficient appointment making system. On Thursday a technical issue in a website code left many residents disappointed when 3,900 appointments opened at noon, but residents who tried to register online instead received a timeout screen.
Residents are understandably frustrated that the appointment website did not perform today, Juan C. Perez, the countys interimexecutive officer, said in a statement. While we worked with our vendor to ensure it would be operational today, unfortunately, it was not. Frankly, thats unacceptable. We apologize for this unfortunate situation and will soon direct residents to a new website.
When more appointments are open the newcountysite will continue to link to the states vaccine registration portal, but if all the appointments are already booked after residents finish the states registration process they will not be able to secure a time.
On Saturday more appointments are scheduled to open at noon for next weeks vaccine clinics in Corona, Menifee, Beaumont and Indio. Officials said approximately 10,000 appointments will be available for anyone within Phase 1A and Phase 1B, which includes those 65 and older.
The following locations will have vaccine clinics starting Monday, Jan. 25 through Friday, Jan. 29 with appointments between 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
On Mondays and Fridays, the following locations will be open for seniors only.
On Tuesdays through Thursdays, the following clinics will be open for everyone in Phase 1A and Phase 1B, as well as those 65 and over.
The clinics will provide vaccines free of charge, however those who show up must register prior to arrival, have an appointment and show proof of eligibility. Medical insurance information will be requested, although not required.
For more COVID-19 vaccine information and to schedule an appointment, rivcoph.org/COVID-19-Vaccine.
No publisher is willing or able to publish her works in China. The social media posts and articles that support her are often censored. A few people who spoke up for her publicly were punished, including a literature professor in Wuhan who lost her Communist Party membership and her right to teach.
I think Fang Fang wrote about what happened, said Amy Ye, the organizer of a volunteer group for disabled people in Wuhan. In fact, I dont think she included the most serious situations. Her diary is very moderate. I dont understand why even something like that couldnt be tolerated.
This demand for a single narrative carries risks. It silences those who might warn the government before it does something foolish, like stumble into a conflict or interfere with Chinas economic growth machine.
It also conceals the true feelings of the Chinese people. On the street, in person, most Chinese will be happy to tell you whats on their minds, perhaps in exhaustive details. But China became a more opaque place in 2020. Online censorship became even harsher. Few Chinese people are willing to take the risks of speaking to Western news media. Beijing expelled many American journalists, including those at The New York Times.
This single narrative also means that people who dont fit into it risk getting left behind.
Ms. Ye, the Wuhan volunteer group organizer, doesnt believe that Wuhan could claim a victoryover the pandemic. My whole world has changed, and it will probably never go back to what it used to be, she said.
Shes still struggling with depression and the fear of getting out of her apartment. An outgoing person before the pandemic, she has attended only one social gathering since the end of the lockdown in April.
All of a sudden we were locked up at home for many days. So many people passed away. But nobody was held accountable, she said. I would probably feel better if someone could apologize that they didnt do their job.
I cant forget the pain, she said. Its engraved in my bones and my heart.
Hundreds of thousands of St. Louis-area residents are now eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccination.
As of mid-January, those cleared for vaccinations include health care workers, first responders, people over 65 and those with chronic health conditions.
People unable to get a shot through their employer can complete online pre-registration forms from county health departments and area hospital systems.
The forms collect residents names and contact information, as well as details about their health risks. Once enough vaccine supply becomes available, county health officials will use that information to contact people to schedule vaccination appointments.
A majority of counties prefer for people to fill out the online forms, instead of calling by phone.
In Missouri:
In the Metro East:
St. Louis-area hospitals have also launched sign-ups for those who see a primary care doctor in their systems. People can sign up on both a hospital system and health department form, health officials say.
Hospital system pre-registration sites:
The Missouri Department of Health and Human Services recently launched an interactive map listing all of the vaccination sites in the state, but not all providers have doses yet.
Health officials say people should continue masking, hand-washing and social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, as the community waits for more doses of the vaccine to become available.
Follow Kayla on Twitter: @_kayladrake
Patricia Reber walked out of the vaccine clinic at L.A.s Lincoln Park pumping her arms overhead like a champion. A friend told the 80-year-old she had waited four hours for a shot at Dodger Stadium, but Reber was in and out within 30 minutes.
This was wonderful, Reber said from beneath a Kobe Bryant face mask. I think theyve done the best they can with the lack of federal help.
But in the chaotic rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, the triumphs were matched by heartbreaking disappointments and confusion as older residents struggled with appointment websites that crashed because of huge demand while workers waited for official information that never came.
Aria Shafiee, 53, was almost in tears because her attempt to enter the vaccination site at Crenshaw Christian Center in South L.A. had been flatly denied. Shafiee knew she was younger than the 65-year minimum for vaccination under Californias rules but hoped she could get an exception due to her health.
Drivers remain in their vehicles and are monitored to ensure they have no reaction after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at the Forum in Inglewood on Tuesday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
I have preexisting conditions, she said. I have diabetes, and my daughter is a resident at UCLA and she lives with us, and they still wouldnt let me in.
In the days since California opened up the vaccine beyond healthcare workers and first responders, there has been a deluge of people trying to get their shots that has overwhelmed supplies and left officials warning they could run out soon.
Health leaders in counties across the state say they are getting only a fraction of the vaccines they are requesting from the federal government, and that is going to leave those eager to get inoculated disappointed.
Los Angeles County, for example, needs more than 4 million doses to provide the two-dose vaccine protocol to all healthcare workers and residents 65 and older, but to date has received only 853,650 doses. San Francisco feared it could run out Thursday but was able to keep going at least for now.
Some areas are doing better than others.
The city of Long Beach was among the first to allow vaccinations of older people last week, and is now expanding its distribution to food workers.
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said a key decision made early on was not to plan out multiple days of vaccine distribution, but instead to vaccinate as many people as possible with the doses on hand. He acknowledged it is a riskier strategy because it can lead to the supply drying up.
I said, If we run out, thats a good problem to have. Dont be worried about running out. Be focused on getting as many doses out as possible, Garcia said. Ive been hearing about a lot of the horror stories in other places. That is not happening in Long Beach.
Things have been less smooth in Los Angeles. On Thursday, the city became so overloaded that its vaccination registration website briefly shut down to new appointments.
Part of the confusion in Los Angeles began when the county said it could not move to residents 65 and older because it had not yet finished vaccinating some 500,000 healthcare workers who remain at the top of the priority list. After pushback, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis issued an executive order late Monday directing officials to move ahead with expansion.
California has 61 local health departments, all with different operations that are currently tracking vaccine data differently. The state is working on a data tracking system, but so far, without a comprehensive assessment of how many doses each county has been allocated, how many each has received and how many each has administered, it has been difficult to compare the progress at a county-by-county level.
According to the California Department of Public Health, providers reported administering nearly 1.6 million doses statewide as of Tuesday (reporting is delayed, the department said). More than 4.2 million doses had been shipped to local health departments and healthcare systems that have facilities in multiple counties.
San Francisco issued a new health order this week requiring providers to report how much vaccine they receive and administer. Local health officials throughout the state have complained they had no way of knowing how well their communities were being vaccinated because they lacked information from the providers.
The confusion led some, like 34-year-old Art Gamboa, to give up on official sources of information altogether and rely on word of mouth.
One of about a hundred people in a quickly moving line at Lincoln Park on Thursday, Gamboa, an in-home healthcare provider, said he first learned from a friend that he was eligible for the vaccine. He navigated a not very well-made interface online but was ultimately able to secure a next-day appointment, he said.
It looks like a mess from the outside, but its actually moving pretty fast, he said as more and more people queued up under the palm trees.
A few paces behind him, Joe Ford, 59, said that his employer told him he was eligible for the vaccine about three weeks ago, but that it took him a good deal of time to navigate the system and secure an appointment. Several locations in the appointment portal showed no availability until March.
A child and family services worker, Ford said he was fortunate enough and privileged enough to have access to the web to even make his appointment.
Im thinking about people here across the street who dont even have a cellphone, he said, motioning toward homeless encampments near the outskirts of the park. Its another area of our society that just points out the disadvantages for the marginalized folks in our community.
Others, like Holo Au, took Gov. Gavin Newsom at his word when he announced that Californians 65 and older could get the vaccine. A retired postal worker, Au, 71, was wearing gloves, mask and shield for protection, and although he had a medical walker with a seat, the Lincoln Park line moved so quickly that he couldnt rest for more than a few seconds at a time.
It took him about two days to get an appointment online, he said, and he was eager to do so.
I want to protect myself, Au said. All year I stay home. I have nothing to do.
Although Los Angeles is still technically working its way through seniors and healthcare workers, few in line at the Crenshaw Christian Center seemed to work in hospitals: chiropractors, in-home caregivers and nursing students were among those waiting for their shot.
Many said they had just learned they were eligible and came to the site at the first opportunity.
Ive just been waiting for my chance, said Silvia Vasquez, 49, as she exited the outdoor lot with a bandage on her arm. Vasquez works as an in-home caregiver, she said, so she couldnt rely on a hospital system employer to administer her vaccine.
A group of four chiropractors who work together were among those waiting. Beth Mulhall, 38, said its been a difficult year for their practice and their patients, particularly since theyve had to reduce capacity and gauge who needs care most urgently.
Mulhall said that their boss was the one who notified them they were eligible for the vaccine, and that he championed them as groundbreakers for being among the first in L.A. to get it.
Her co-worker, Fabian Martin, said they were more like guinea pigs.
The biggest fear is that its new, Martin said, noting that while concerns about the vaccines safety crossed his mind several times, he ultimately decided to go through with it.
However inconvenient it is to get here, Mulhall chimed in, its less inconvenient than being in a hospital dying.
But several in line Wednesday werent healthcare workers at all. Two nannies, a teacher and even a marketing associate came to Crenshaw Christian Center because they had heard they might be able to get a vaccine if there were leftovers at the end of the day.
Max Costello, a 42-year-old house flipper, has multiple construction projects in the area and decided to try his luck. Several of his crew members have had COVID-19, he said, and its challenging to maintain social distancing at a construction site without keeping teams small. He found a place in the hot sun where he could wait it out and see.
But despite the abundance of leftover shot rumors floating around, guards at the site said they couldnt confirm them. David Ortiz, a spokesman for the LAFD, said via phone that he didnt think there would be any leftover vaccines, and that if there were, they would be taken to Dodger Stadium.
Still, the rumors were enough to bring Shafiee, the 53-year-old on the verge of tears, to the site. After her request for entry was denied, Shafiee said she wasnt sure what to do next. Out of work for more than a year because of the pandemic, she had been hoping that receiving the vaccine would be the marker of better days to come.
As it stands, she and her husband have to wear face masks inside their Redondo Beach home whenever their daughter comes in from her job at the hospital.
Im very angry, she said, wiping her eyes above her mask. Its an awful situation. ... It has been a tough year.
Vaccine basics
Residents 65 and older can sign up for an appointment at the county public health departments website, vaccinatelacounty.com. Residents without computer access can call (833) 540-0473 between 8 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. for assistance with reservations.
The city of Los Angeles is also offering the vaccine to anyone in Los Angeles County who is 65 or older, through a different online portal. That website connects patients to sites including Dodger Stadium, San Fernando Recreation Park, Lincoln Park, Hansen Dam and Crenshaw Christian Center.
Orange County residents can sign up using the Othena app. Information for Riverside County residents can be found at the Riverside University Health System, while San Bernardino County residents can find vaccine information on the countys website. Ventura County is offering vaccinations to residents 75 and older, who can sign up for appointments online.
