Nearly 2M COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Administered In LA County
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Friday reported 1,838 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 144 deaths, bringing countywide totals to 1,189,232 cases and 21,241 deaths.
Of the new deaths reported, 47 people were over the age of 80, 45 people were between the ages of 65 and 79, 40 people were between the ages of 50 and 64, six people were between the ages of 30 and 49, and two people were between the ages of 18 and 29. Long Beach reported three deaths, and Pasadena added one.
Public Health also announced that nearly 1.96 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across L.A. County, with 600,497 people having already received their second doses.
And while officials said the county's vaccination sites had the capacity to administer 500,000 doses this past week, the county only received 211,000 doses.
Health officials said they expect to receive 269,000 doses next week — just as vaccine eligibility expands to include education and childcare workers, food and agriculture workers, and emergency services and law enforcement workers — with 103,000 doses set aside for first doses.
"We are very hopeful our allocation of COVID-19 vaccination doses increases as more vaccine options become available," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, county public health director, said. "The more people that are protected with vaccine, combined with businesses and residents following the safety measures, the quicker we drive down cases and the sooner we move to less restrictive tiers that allow for additional reopening."
More information about the county's vaccination program can be found on the health department's website in both English and in Spanish.
There were 1,886 COVID-19 patients hospitalized Friday, 30% of whom were being treated in intensive care units — a drastic decline from the highs of over 8,000 reported in January.
With testing results available for more than 5,811,000 individuals, the county's overall positivity rate was holding steady at 19%, though the daily test positivity rate had fallen to 2.9%.
