Santa Ana Coronavirus Vaccine Site Helps Hardest Hit Communities

ORANGE COUNTY, CA —Santa Ana College opened their super Point of Dispensing vaccine site on Wednesday to benefit residents of Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana neighborhoods hardest hit by the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, the county reported 166 more residents tested positive for coronavirus, raising the cumulative total to 243,329. Another 27 of our residents have died, bringing the county's death toll to 3,644.

Coronavirus hospitalizations are continuing the downward trend, with 719 patients currently being treated for the virus, falling from 748 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, 235 of those patients remain in intensive care.

The county has 15.4 percent of its ICU beds available, as well as 57 percent of its ventilators, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.

Jan. 5 is now known as the deadliest day in Orange County when 63 people died due to COVID-19 related illness. The second highest was Jan. 3, when 61 people died.

The county's adjusted daily case rate per 100,000 people dropped from 29.7 last week to 20.7 on Tuesday, and the test positivity rate on a seven-day average, with a seven-day lag, fell from 9.4% to 7.8%, which meets the criteria for the red tier of the state's four-tiered business re-opening plan.

The county's Health Equity Quartile Positivity Rate, which measures the cases in highly affected, needier parts of the county, declined from 12.4% last week to 10.7%.

The numbers for the state's color-coded tier framework are updated on Tuesdays.

To move to the less-restrictive red tier from the purple tier, the county has to improve to 4 to 7 new daily cases per 100,000 and a 5% to 8% positivity rate with a health equity quartile at 5.3% to 8%. And the county would be required to maintain the metrics for two consecutive weeks.

Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Andrew Do said if the trends continue, the "best-case scenario" is another three to four weeks before the county makes the red tier.

By that time in mid-to-late March, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — which requires only one shot instead of the two-shot regimen for the vaccines currently in use — could be available, Do said. "At that point, we could really make headway into reopening our economy."

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The Orange County Board of Supervisors is focusing on the hardest-hit areas by the virus, in hopes that "by driving down those numbers we benefit everyone," according to Board Chairman Andrew Do. This site features a "drive-through" option for disabled residents, something that lagged at previous vaccine dispensing sites, according to multiple reader comments.

The Santa Ana site aims to dispense about 1,000 vaccines daily, and up to 1,500 ultimately, according to Chairman Do. The site is aimed at residents from the hard-hit areas of Santa Ana, Garden Grove, and Anaheim.

On Wednesday, 1,000 appointments were scheduled through the county's website and app, Othena.

Orange County CEO Frank Kim said the new site was running smoothly, and "generally, it was taking 15 minutes to get to the vaccine station."

Registrants will use the Othena website to make their vaccination appointments.

Read: Othena: OC Residents Question Vaccine Scheduling App's History

What vaccine you need for your booster will determine where you go to get your second shot, according to Do. Starting Feb. 24, residents who need a Moderna booster will go to one place, and those who need a Pfizer booster will go to another.

Starting Feb. 24, a new Super Point of Dispensing will open at the Anaheim Convention Center. This site will dole out booster shots for those inoculated with the Moderna vaccine. The new convention center site is only for those inoculated with Moderna to get their booster shot, according to Kim.

After Feb. 24, only the Pfizer vaccine will be administered at the Disneyland Super Point of Dispensing site, for the first and booster shots.

After a problematic opening, the county says they are now receiving 35,000 to 40,000 vaccines a week. Vaccine appointments through the county are entirely dependent on the number of vaccines received.

If the county received more vaccines, it could open new sites for inoculations, Kim said.

"If I had 100,000 doses a week I would open three additional super PODS within 30 days," he said.

There are more unknowns with the change to Blue Shield taking over vaccine distributions to county governments and health care providers. Those involve what changes will be made in allocations between county governments and healthcare providers. Thus far, according to Chairman Do, who was at the forefront of vaccine planning with Supervisor Doug Chaffee, the county received a much lesser percentage of vaccines than did the hospitals and health care providers.

"Once Blue Shield takes over, what is their formula" for allocating vaccines, Kim said. "We'd like to know."

By the numbers, Orange County has met the state's threshold to reopen schools for kindergarten through sixth grade. As it stands, most of the schools in the county have already been open for some sort of combination of virtual and direct learning.

Anaheim Elementary School District has plans to resume in-person learning on March 15.

Buena Park School District is phasing in in-person instruction to start on Monday.

The number of infected inmates in the county's jails was down to 13 with one hospitalized and officials waiting on results from 282 tests.

County attorneys at a court hearing on Tuesday said 186 inmates 65 and older or who have underlying health conditions, making them especially vulnerable to COVID-19, have been vaccinated. Another 110 declined shots.

MORE ABOUT VACCINATIONS:

Need your second vaccination? Check your appointment to see if your location has changed.

The new Anaheim Convention Center super Point of Dispensing will only be giving out Moderna vaccines starting Feb. 24. If you have an appointment already, the date and time will remain the same though the location will change.

After Feb. 24, the Disneyland Super Point of Dispensing will only be given If you are needing a Pfizer vaccine, that will be given out at Anaheim, and your date and time will remain the same.

Check your vaccination app for further information.

Appointments are required, and call 714-834-2000 with any questions.

City News Service contributed to this report.