SAN FRANCISCO—All 715 residents and 1,000 employees of the Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Heart have been vaccinated, in keeping with San Francisco Well being Director Grant Colfax and Mayor London Breed in a weekly COVID-19 convention on January 12, 2021.
Colfax spoke of “good news” relating to the subject of COVID vaccinations at nursing properties in San Francisco. “All the residents of Laguna Honda, the largest skilled nursing facility, have been offered a first dose of vaccine. Across the city, 13 of the 18 skilled nursing facilities have had their residents offered vaccines through the federal pharmacy program for long-term care.” The remaining skilled-nursing services are anticipated to be accomplished in days.
Nursing properties have been facilities of the COVID outbreak in america, as 37% of COVID deaths transpired in assisted dwelling services, in keeping with The Atlantic’s Covid Monitoring Mission. In part 1a of the vaccine distribution course of in California, the goal teams embody healthcare employees and long-term care residents.
Talking of Part 1A, Dr. Colfax stated residents of expert nursing services are at significantly “excessive danger of issues of COVID-19 and from dying of COVID-19.”
The FDA-approved BioNTech–Pfizer vaccines had been shipped by firms equivalent to FedEx to pharmacies equivalent to Walgreens and CVS, which associate with expert nursing services to vaccinate residents and employees. Vaccines are additionally distributed to healthcare suppliers such because the San Francisco Division of Public Well being, Kaiser, UCSF, and Sutter Well being.
Throughout the COVID press convention on January 5, Breed expressed concern for Laguna Honda within the gentle of the outbreak there in December. “The good news is that, starting yesterday, working with Walgreens, we began vaccinating the residents of Laguna Honda.”
As of December 31, 163 individuals at Laguna Honda had been contaminated with COVID, amongst them 122 employees and 41 residents. Three aged residents, all aged over 75, died that month, one on December 11, the second on December 22, and the third on December 29.
“Protecting the residents of Laguna Honda Hospital is very personal to me. My grandmother lived there for years at the end of her own life. So I know what those residents are feeling, I know what their families are feeling because they’re not able to visit,” stated Breed. “Our fight to keep the virus out of Laguna Honda is a fight to keep these people alive until we could do what we started doing yesterday, protecting them with the vaccine.”
Lagunda Honda worker and San Francisco Division of Public Well being employee Zoey Harris stated she was within the technique of getting interviews and testimonies from employees and residents for the San Francisco Information.
On January 13, California Governor Newsom introduced that California entered Part 1B of the vaccination plan. Underneath Part 1B, there are two tiers, and the primary tier consists of people 65 and older, together with these susceptible to publicity within the following work sectors: schooling and childcare, emergency companies, and meals and agriculture. The second tier consists of these in danger within the following sectors: transportation and logistics, industrial, industrial, residential, and sheltering services and companies, and significant manufacturing. The homeless and incarcerated are additionally within the second tier of Part 1B.
As of January 13, in keeping with ABC 7 Information’s COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker, 2,948,350 vaccines have been administered.
The care facility vaccination plan is a precursor to the plan of COVID-19 vaccine availability at pharmacies to the general public in a retail setting. In that retail setting, vaccines are free and might be provided on an appointment-only foundation on CVS.com or by way of the CVS Pharmacy app.
Walgreens is following the CDC’s phased distribution schedule to manage the COVID-19 vaccination. Part 1a will deal with healthcare employees, residents of long-term care services, and chosen populations primarily based on tips. Part 1b consists of individuals aged 75+, sure teams of healthcare employees. Part 1c consists of individuals aged 65-74, individuals aged 16-64 with continual well being situations, and sure teams of important employees. One purpose is to make the vaccine accessible to the general public in a retail house by the Spring of 2021.
“The long-term care facilities had an opportunity either to use CVS or Walgreens. Or they could have opted out and used a state program,” stated CVS Well being Bay Space regional director Joe Fiesel, as quoted on the Marin County Human Well being Companies web site.
The San Francisco Information contacted the 1900 19th Avenue CVS on January 15, inquiring about COVID vaccine appointments. The pharmacy employee stated to name again in two months, when the vaccine is estimated to be accessible in a retail house.
