With the county on the brink of reaching 1 million total coronavirus cases, Dodger Stadium transformed into a massive vaccination center on Friday, Jan. 15, amid concerns that shortfalls in anticipated supplies are slowing the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine.
Lines of cars showed up early Friday morning along the Academy Road entrance, where members of CORE and L.A. City Fire Department personnel directed eager healthcare workers — from pharmacists to nurses — into the stadium, where they would wait in another long line to be inoculated.
COVID-19 mass-vaccination of healthcare workers takes place at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Shannon Carhahan directs traffic as COVID-19 mass-vaccination of healthcare workers starts at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Dr. Richard Dang, right, Assistant professor USC School of Pharmacy administers COVID-19 vaccine to Ashley Van Dyke as mass-vaccination of healthcare workers takes place at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021 in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Dr. Richard Dang, right, Assistant professor USC School of Pharmacy prepares a COVID-19 vaccine as mass-vaccination of healthcare workers starts at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Yi Arias, a CORE crew member is in an upbeat mood during COVID-19 mass-vaccination of healthcare workers at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti addresses a press conference held at the launch of a mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. Gov. Gavin Newsom, fourth right, and Mayor Garcetti touted the stadium as a new mass vaccination site while acknowledging they need clarity from the federal government on the availability of future vaccine supply. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti disinfects a podium for the next speaker at a press conference held at the launch of a mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, right, and Governor Gavin Newsom tour the mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. Newsom and Garcetti touted the stadium as a new mass vaccination site while acknowledging they need clarity from the federal government on the availability of future vaccine supply. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Governor Gavin Newsom addresses a press conference held at the launch of a mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, left, touted the stadium as a new mass vaccination site while acknowledging they need clarity from the federal government on the availability of future vaccine supply. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti addresses a press conference held at the launch of a mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Garcetti touted the stadium as a new mass vaccination site while acknowledging they need clarity from the federal government on the availability of future vaccine supply. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Dr. Richard Dang, right, Assistant professor USC School of Pharmacy prepares a COVID-19 vaccine as mass-vaccination of healthcare workers starts at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Governor Gavin Newsom addresses a press conference held at the launch of a mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti touted the stadium as a new mass vaccination site while acknowledging they need clarity from the federal government on the availability of future vaccine supply. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Governor Gavin Newsom, right, is greeted by a healthcare worker at the launch of a mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti touted the stadium as a new mass vaccination site while acknowledging they need clarity from the federal government on the availability of future vaccine supply. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Governor Gavin Newsom addresses a press conference held at the launch of mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti touted the stadium as a new mass vaccination site while acknowledging they need clarity from the federal government on the availability of future vaccine supply. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Governor Gavin Newsom addresses a press conference held at the launch of a mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti touted the stadium as a new mass vaccination site while acknowledging they need clarity from the federal government on the availability of future vaccine supply. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, left, greets Governor Gavin Newsom, right, at the launch of a mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. Newsom and Garcetti touted the stadium as a new mass vaccination site while acknowledging they need clarity from the federal government on the availability of future vaccine supply. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Dr. Richard Dang, right, Assistant professor USC School of Pharmacy administers COVID-19 vaccine to Ashley Van Dyke as mass-vaccination of healthcare workers takes place at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
COVID-19 mass-vaccination of healthcare workers takes place at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021 in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Los Angeles Fire Assistant Fire Chief Ellsworth Fortman administers a COVID-19 vaccine as mass-vaccination of healthcare workers starts at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
COVID-19 mass-vaccination of healthcare workers takes place at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Drivers enter Dodger Stadium’s COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on opening day Friday, January 15, 2021 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Drivers enter Dodger Stadium’s COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on opening day Friday, January 15, 2021 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A driver waits to enter Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after it was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Marvo Hider, 75, and Margie Harris-Hightower, 82, who were turned away from a vaccine at Dodger Stadium, are upset that Los Angeles County has not added seniors to the vaccination list after the stadium was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles is turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Margie Harris-Hightower, 82, who was turned away from a vaccine at Dodger Stadium, is upset that Los Angeles County has not added seniors to the vaccination list after the stadium was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
CORE employees direct traffic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after it was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A driver enters Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after it was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
CORE employees direct traffic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after it was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
CORE employees direct traffic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after it was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
People wait in line for vaccines at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after it was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
CORE employees are on hand to direct traffic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after it was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
People wait in line for vaccines at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after it was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
CORE employees direct traffic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after it was turned into a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site on Friday, January 15, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
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Among them was Kanwar Ali, a pharmacist, who said the moment could not come too soon.
“I just wanted to be here, so I can tell my patients I already took my shot,” he said, adding he’s been seeking a vaccine hub for at least week.
That week has been a scramble for many as county public health officials, doctors, nurses, volunteers and others work to accelerate distribution. While state officials have allowed anyone over 65 to get the vaccine — a policy implemented almost immediately in neighboring Orange County — L.A. County officials say they still do not have sufficient vaccine to inoculate the top-tier recipients, healthcare industry workers.
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti joined with Gov. Gavin Newsom and several other local officials took to the stadium’s diamond to tout the stadium as what will become the largest of its kind in the country — but they, too, lamented the shorfall and the slow start — especially after months of the opportunity to plan for potential shortages.
“We’ve got to increase the pace, distribution and administration of the vaccine,” Newsom said, doubling down on a goal to vaccinate 1 million Californians in 10 days, which he said the state was on track for. “We’ve got to get them out of the freezer and into people’s arms.”
Getting that done became even more complicated Friday, after state governors blasted the Trump administration for what at least one said was “deception” in suggesting earlier this week a reserve of vaccine doses was ready to ship, augmenting supplies. An administration official said states have still not ordered all of the doses allocated to them, and called it a problem with states’ expectations.
Newsom said at the moment the sudden lack of a federal reserve didn’t appear to affect any issues in administering the required second doses of the vaccines.
But Garcetti noted that because of the shortfall in vaccine supply, there’s a question whether the city and county supply can meet the demand beyond next week and longer term.
“The short answer is I don’t know,” he said.
“It’s not a problem with the state. It’s not a problem here locally. We simply don’t have the supply coming in,” Garcetti said.
The mayor and other big-city mayor across the country sent a letter to President-elect Joe Biden Wednesday asking that cities be given vaccine allocations directly instead of funneling them through the state.
With limited doses, distribution has been broken up into phases, which are then broken into tiers.
Phase 1A is for healthcare workers and workers and residents of skilled nursing facilities. Next in line are people under Phase 1B, which includes people 65 and older, teacher and food and agricultural workers.
Friday’s opening at the stadium considered a “soft” opening, was limited by the vaccine supply.
“Were trying to figure out what efficiencies, deficiencies are in our setup,” said David Ortiz, spokesman for the L.A. City Fire Department,” and trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.”
Here at Dodger Stadium this morning, were vaccinations for healthcare workers have begun. #covid #covidvaccinations. When fully up and running it will be among the largest such sites. pic.twitter.com/XKeB40QJb7
— Ryan Carter (@ryinie) January 15, 2021
Officials were expecting about 2,000 people, he said. But that number will grow in the coming days as the facility, possibly the largest of its kind in the country. Ortiz said officials expect it to be at full capacity, delivering 12,000 doses a day, by the end of next week.
The site — staffed by a mix of volunteers, clinicians, city fire personnel and traffic control — is set up to give an initial dose and then later a second round, per the vaccination’s protocol.
Ortiz said once the facility — which until now was a COVID-19 testing hub — moves through the the county’s population of 800,000 healthcare workers, inoculations will then be distributed to region’s massive population of 1.3 million people 65 and older.
There was a sense of urgency mixed with relief among many who showed up in Chavez Ravine on Friday.
LA City Fire’s David Ortiz sets the table for the day here at Dodger Stadium, where the line continues to grow in a “soft opening” of vaccinations. Note: there is only a limited number of doses to be given today. #covidvaccinations pic.twitter.com/ZF7FCWxzqF
— Ryan Carter (@ryinie) January 15, 2021
Mike Tamassian, a psychologist, said “I’m getting vaccinated just to be able to see my clients.”
Others — at least two were turned away — criticized the rollout.
“It’s too slow,” said an irate Margie Harris-Hightower, 82, who came Friday morning with the understanding that it would be given to seniors. “Average people like me can’t get it. They need to open it up to everybody.”
The Dodger Stadium rollout was by online reservation, a system that will be expanded as more people are eligible for vaccines. But many seniors aren’t online, and their non-tech-savvy peers are dealing with glitchy websites and overwhelmed phone lines to make appointments.
Concerns are particularly acute among people of color and those who are poor.
Nearly 9.5 million seniors, or 16.5% of U.S. adults 65 and older, lack internet access, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Access is worse for seniors of color: more than 25% of Black people, about 21% of Hispanic people and over 28% of Native Americans 65 and older have no way to get online. That’s compared with 15.5% of white seniors.
Officials were mindful of seniors’ concerns, especially in light of confusion in the region over Newsom’s announcement on Wednesday suggesting seniors could get the vaccination now.
But L.A. County officials say that’s not the case, and suggested that ability might not be available for a couple of weeks, and possibly longer, depending on supply.
“We can’t predict the future,” Simon said. “It’s contingent on us continuing to receive adequate doses of the vaccine. There will be a heck of a lot of frustration if we open it up to that many people and there’s not enough to serve them.”
Under President-elect Joe Biden’s plan, released Thursday, about $20 billion would be allocated for a more disciplined focus on vaccination, on top of some $8 billion already approved by Congress. Biden has called for setting up mass vaccination centers and sending mobile units to hard-to-reach areas.
With the backing of Congress and the expertise of private and government scientists, the Trump administration delivered two vaccines and more are on the way. Yet a month after the first shots were given, the nation’s vaccination campaign was off to a slow start. About 11 million people got the first of two shots, although more than 30 million doses have been delivered.
Getting 100 million shots in Americans’ arms in his first 100 days is only the beginning of his coronavirus plan, Biden declared Friday. Lasting impact, he said, will emerge from uniting the nation in a new effort grounded in science and fueled by billions in federal money for vaccination, testing and outbreak sleuths.
Biden pledged to maximize the available supply of vaccines and materials needed to administer them, using a Cold War-era law called the Defense Production Act to direct private manufacturing.
He also seconded the Trump’s administration’s call earlier this week for states to start vaccinating more seniors, reaching those 65 and older as well as younger people with certain health problems. Until now, states have been focused on inoculating health care workers, and some are starting to vaccinate people 75 and older. Relatively few are providing shots to people between 65 and 75
“You have my word, we will manage the hell out of this operation,” he said. “We are in a war with this virus,” he said.
As the Dodger Stadium center opened, L.A. County announced it is expanding its capacity for large-scale COVID-19 vaccine distributions by opening five large-scale vaccination sites across the county on Tuesday.
Sites include:
- Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W McKinley Ave., Pomona;
- The Forum, 3900 W Manchester Blvd., Inglewood;
- California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge;
- L.A. County Office of Education, 12830 Columbia Way, Downey; and
- Six Flags Magic Mountain, 26101 Magic Mountain Parkway, Valencia.
The vaccinations are administered free of charge, but they begin with priority eligibility given to healthcare workers and skilled nursing facility staff and residents first.
“By vaccinating those at the highest risk as soon as possible, we have an opportunity to stabilize our healthcare system, prevent people from being hospitalized from COVID-19, and most importantly, save lives,” said L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
Over at Dodger stadium, city officials were demanding it be done equitably.
“It could mean life or death for them,” said L.A. City Councilwoman Nury Martinez.
For information, visit the county’s vaccination site at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/vaccine/index.htm?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=.
