Disneyland Super POD Out Of Moderna Vaccine, Weather Delays

ANAHEIM, CA - The Disneyland vaccination site has run put of Moderna vaccines, Thursday, according to county. Severe winter storms on the East Coast have delayed delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, forcing the closure of Orange County's Disneyland Super POD site Thursday until at least Monday.

The storms have also delayed the opening of another new distribution point at the Anaheim Convention Center, which was scheduled to open on Wednesday.

The Moderna vaccines were supposed to arrive but didn't show due to the winter storms in Michigan and Massachusetts, where the medicine is shipped from, said Orange County CEO Frank Kim.

"It's affecting other counties, too," Kim said. "We're just at the front end of it."

The Disney site primarily uses the Moderna vaccine, and the Anaheim Convention Center is going to be used as a location to provide the Moderna booster shots.

So far, the vaccine shortfall has not affected the sites at Santa Ana College and Soka University, because the Pfizer vaccines are being used there and a shipment of Pfizer vaccines arrived Thursday, Kim said.

"We've got just enough Pfizer to last through this weekend, hopefully," Kim said.

"We're told (another shipment of Moderna) may arrive sometime next week, but it's hard to predict the weather," Kim said.

There is some concern the poor weather back east could affect the delivery of Pfizer vaccines as well, Kim said.

"When we didn't get the (Moderna) vaccine Tuesday, we were hoping to borrow vaccine," but could not find anyone with doses to lend, Kim said. "When it wasn't available to borrow, we had to make the decision to close."
Kim said the state requires counties to dispense the vaccines as quickly as possible, so any interruption in the delivery will affect supply, Kim said.

"We're operating under thin margins in terms of vaccine inventory," Kim said.

County officials do have enough for Moderna booster shots that will be dispensed through mobile PODS, Kim said.

Anyone due a booster shot should not worry about being a little late, Kim said. The manufacturers say a booster shot can be dispensed up to six weeks late and still be effective, Dr. Clayton Chau, the county's chief health officer and director of the Orange County Health Care Agency, told supervisors in a memo.

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City News Service contributed to this report.