California’s MyTurnwill begin accepting vaccination appointments for 12-15 year olds on Thursday morning, according to State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan.
While there are many vaccines now mandated for those attending public schools in the state, the HHS director said that would not be the case with the Covid doses “since they’re still under emergency use authorization, not full FDA approval.”“The most powerful tool to maintain our recovery progress is the vaccine and the most important work in front of us is to make it easier for residents to get vaccinated,” said L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
Ferrer said Monday if the county can maintain its pace of administering about 400,000 doses per week, “herd immunity” could be achieved by mid- to late- July. Health officials are estimating that 80% of county residents will need to get vaccinated to reach that point. A previous estimate from L.A. officials had estimated so-called “community immunity” by the end of June. But demand for the vaccine has tailed off — both in the county and statewide — in recent weeks.
The county established a web portal Monday that allows people to arrange for a mobile vaccine team to visit specific work sites.