LA County seeing drop in demand for COVID vaccines

In a trend described as “very worrisome,” the number of people getting their first COVID-19 vaccination at Los Angeles County sites dropped significantly over the past week, marking the first such drop and leading to more calls Thursday for people to get the shots and propel the county toward a return to normalcy.

County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer didn’t have exact number of how many appointments went unfilled over the past week, but said county-operated vaccination sites saw sharp drops in people coming in for their first dose. That means the county, for the first time, will likely fall short of its goal of administering 95% of the doses it receives within one week.

“We’ve seen a significant drop here in L.A. County with people getting vaccinated, and it’s very worrisome. Very worrisome,” Ferrer said. “This would not be the time to sort of lose momentum on vaccinations. … Overall, almost all of the providers have said they had appointments that did not get filled this week. Some had a few, some had a lot. At our county sites, we’re down at least 50% at all of our county sites in terms of filling appointments.”

Ferrer again issued a public plea for people to get vaccinated, noting that shots will continue to be offered without appointments at all county sites through at least next week.

According to the most recent statistics, more than 7.2 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the county, including more than 4.5 million first doses and more than 2.6 million second doses. Ferrer also pointed to notable improvements in vaccination rates among Latino and Black communities, which have been lagging behind in the inoculation effort despite having the highest case rates.

But Ferrer also pointed to lagging vaccination rates in multiple communities, including Lancaster and Palmdale. She tried to offer encouragement for people to get vaccinated, pointing out that fully vaccinated people will inevitably have more ability to partake in and fully enjoy events outside their home.

Ferrer noted that the county is on pace to move into the yellow tier of the state Blueprint for a Safer Economy next week. If the county still meets the criteria when new state figures are released next Tuesday, a revised health officer order loosening capacity restrictions on businesses will be issued Wednesday, and take effect on Thursday.

Moving to the yellow tier — which is the least-restrictive in the blueprint — would mean a larger allowable capacity at most businesses, gatherings and events, both indoors and outdoors. Fitness centers, cardrooms, wineries and breweries, for instance, would be permitted to increase indoor capacity to 50%, up from the current 25%; bars would be able to open indoors at 25%; outdoor venues such as Dodger Stadium could increase capacity to 67%, up from the current 33%; and amusement parks could allow 35%, up from 25%.

The county is revising its health order this week to incorporate changes in mask-wearing guidelines recommended this week for fully vaccinated people by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The revisions also state that surveillance COVID testing is no longer recommended for fully vaccinated people, unless they work at skilled nursing facilities or other high- risk settings, are traveling internationally or are required by a particular business or facility.

The county reported another 42 COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, raising the cumulative total since the pandemic began to 23,872. Another 416 cases were confirmed by the county, while Long Beach health officials reported 22 and Pasadena added two, lifting the overall number from throughout the pandemic to 1,232,751. View the latest detailed report by city and demographics here.

According to state figures, there were 420 people hospitalized in the county as of Thursday, up from 410 on Wednesday, with 98 people in intensive care, down from 105 on Wednesday.

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