COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Hits Bumps In Riverside County
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — While vaccination against COVID-19 was made available to more Riverside County residents this week, the process hasn't exactly been smooth sailing.
First, there's the vaccine shortfall.
On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that, in addition to priority frontline workers, the vaccine was to begin being offered to people 65 and older. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, there are about 324,000 residents age 65 and older in the county. While some in that age demographic are priority frontline workers who are currently employed, most are probably not. So in addition to the thousands of healthcare workers who have now have access to vaccination, the county must offer the vaccine to its 65 and older residents too.
The day before the governor's announcement, Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari told the Riverside County Board of Supervisors that the county had received 79,875 vaccine doses, and another 114,825 were expected before the end of the week.
In addition to a vaccine shortage, there are also some technical glitches. The county is working to get doses out to the public — at no charge — and several announcements have been issued this week about county vaccination clinics opening. The clinics require registration and appointments, but on Friday the county's vaccine webpage was down so people couldn't sign up.
"As expected, there was a lot of interest in obtaining an appointment and the website has been busy," said Riverside University Health System spokesperson Jose Arballo. "We are working with the technology team to keep up with demand. There have been hundreds of appointments made so far since we opened the appointment system about 1 p.m."
As the workday was ending Friday, the webpage was back online but every vaccination clinic was full.
County-operated clinics aren't the only place to obtain the vaccine. There are more than 175 COVID-19 vaccine providers in Riverside County, according to the county. Residents can check with their primary care physician, urgent care provider or pharmacy to see if they have the vaccine available. Ralphs, Albertsons and Apple Urgent Care are three Riverside County community partners that are providing the vaccine.
The slow vaccine rollout is set against the backdrop of increasing COVID-19 deaths in the county. On Friday, a record 118 new COVID-19 deaths were reported, bringing the toll to 2,517 dead due to the illness, according to Riverside University Health System-Public Health.
While there is a lag in reporting COVID-19 deaths because of red tape associated with death certificates, this week was particularly grim. Since last Friday, 299 COVID-19 deaths were reported in Riverside County.
COVID-19 hospitalizations were down Friday, according to RUHS data that showed a drop of 21 patients since Thursday. Total hospitalizations were reported Friday at 1,563, which included 353 ICU patients, a drop of 14 over the previous day.
Total coronavirus cases countywide were up by 419 Friday, bringing the total to 233,899, according to RUHS. About two-thirds of the cases represent people who have since recovered from the illness.
This article originally appeared on the Temecula Patch
