Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the city will begin transitioning from mass vaccination sites to increased use of mobile clinics targeting L.A.’s hardest-hit communities.
The city government aims to use exclusively mobile clinics by August 1.
Visit Coronavirus.LACity.org/GetVaccinated for additional information and vaccination site locations.
Mass vaccination sites will remain open over the next two months, but starting August 14 a team of at least 14 mobile clinics will be operating throughout the county.
The move to mobile clinics builds on Garcetti’s earlier Mobile Outreach for Vaccine Equity (MOVE) program. Move has already administered over 112,000 doses at small temporary clinics and over 90% of those doses have been administered to people of color. “With a growing number of residents getting inoculated, we are putting our resources where they will do the most good — delivering doses directly to undervaccinated communities, engaging and educating vulnerable populations, and eliminating barriers to this life-saving vaccine,” Garcetti said in a statement.
Throughout the county, four million Angelenos are already fully vaccinated and close to nine million have received their first dose, but the goal of herd immunity remains far off in LA.
CalMatters looked at state vaccination data in nine counties and found that less than a third of residents ages 16 and over were fully vaccinated. In 45 of the state’s 58 counties, less than half were vaccinated. Additionally, vaccination rates are far lower in communities of color. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told the Board of Supervisors that there is a “very disturbing” trend in the disparities of who is getting vaccinated.
Data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health show a stark racial disparity in who is contracting coronavirus. Latinos made up a little more than half of all coronavirus cases in the county. Yet, only 41% of Latino residents ages 12 and older have received one dose of a vaccine, according to an Los Angeles Times project tracking vaccine distribution. Black residents also have low vaccination rates at 37%, compared to 57% of American Indian and Alaska Native residents, 60% of white residents and 67% of Asian residents.
The mobile clinics hope to reach these unvaccinated groups by reducing logistical and financial burdens. Clinics will go directly to Angelenos while partnering with community leaders and canvassing local events.
Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) provided support and staff since the beginning of the pandemic. The company will pivot along with the county to increase vaccine access, according to the CORE CEO Ann Lee. “CORE remains committed to acting quickly and evolving with the ever-changing state of the pandemic to best serve the community,” said Lee.
In April, California opened vaccine eligibility to residents 16 and older.
The city-operated vaccine site at Pierce College in Woodland Hills will close June 19.
The site at LA Southwest College will close June 26.