Friday’s COVID-19 vaccination appointments at Los Angeles city-run sites like Dodger Stadium will be postponed due to supply delays caused by winter storms throughout the country, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Thursday.
“Severe weather across the country has disrupted travel and shipping nationwide, including delaying the delivery of our vaccines,” Garcetti said. “Our city is ready to administer COVID-19 vaccines swiftly, safely and equitably — and as soon as doses arrive in Los Angeles, we will get them into people’s arms immediately.”
Two separate shipments of vaccines heading to Los Angeles were held up due to grounded flights and icy roads:
- 26,000 doses which were supposed to arrive Tuesday are currently in Kentucky.
- 37,000 doses intended to be used for next week’s appointments are currently in Tennessee.
Weather-related delays of vaccine shipments has also forced the closure of vaccination sites in Orange County and is causing delays in vaccinations in San Diego County.
However, Los Angeles County officials said their sites have not been affected by any weather-related issues, and will remain open as scheduled. The Los Angeles County sites are only administering second doses of the two-dose regimen for people in need of their second shot.
“One thing we won’t pause on, even in the face of terrible weather and logistical challenges like these, is our commitment to equity. And even as we have to close down for a day those large vaccination sites, our mobile equity sites, those vans and those vehicles that are going out into communities to makes sure, especially in hard-hit, high-density, low-income communities of color, we will continue to vaccinate tomorrow and Saturday,” Garcetti said during his COVID-19 briefing Thursday.
The 12,500 people who had appointments scheduled at Los Angeles city- run sites Friday will receive a notification by text, email or phone that their appointment is postponed, according to Garcetti’s office.
They will be prioritized for new appointments once the city receives vaccine supply and receive a notification about their automatically rescheduled appointment.
“We are collaborating closely with the city of Los Angeles to ensure the vaccination distribution process is as smooth as possible,” said Dr. Sujal Mandavia, chief medical officer of Carbon Health, which coordinates the city’s vaccination efforts.
“Second dose appointments will be prioritized, and it is our intent to administer those second doses within the CDC-recommended timeframe of 42 days after the first dose.”
The latest disruption comes less than a week after the city closed its vaccination sites last Friday and Saturday after exhausting its supply of first-dose Moderna vaccines.
Prior to running out of vaccines, the city received only 16,000 new doses for the week, while it was administering an average of 13,051 doses per day.
