Torrance Memorial Medical To Administer First Coronavirus Vaccine

TORRANCE, CA — Torrance Memorial Medical Center will administer the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for the first time on Saturday, hospital officials told Patch.

The vaccination process is planned for Saturday for hospital front-line health care staff and physicians with known COVID-19 related patient care or people who work in high-risk settings.

"Torrance Memorial plans to administer the first dosage to over 2,000 workers prior to the end of December with the second dose shortly thereafter during this first half of January 2021," officials said.

State officials said the hospitals chosen for the first distribution were selected because of their large number of health care staff at "highest-risk” and also have the ultra-cold storage capabilities to store the vaccine in negative 94-degree Celsius freezers, officials said.

Intensive Care Unit beds dropped to 0 percent capacity across the Southland Thursday, reflecting the onslaught of coronavirus patients overburdening hospitals across 11 counties.

About 21 percent of the county's 4,656 COVID-19 patients are being treated in intensive care units. Health officials expect to see the death toll climb following spiking hospitalizations and new cases. On Wednesday, the state's most populous county recorded 138 deaths - the deadliest day of the pandemic so far.

According to Los Angeles Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, about two people in the county are dying from COVID- 19 every hour. State officials focused aid efforts this week on the death toll, ordering 5,000 body bags and mobile morgue units to be sent to Southern California.

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