The race is on, the race to vaccinate enough people to put the coronavirus pandemic mostly in the past so we can get mostly back to normal in the near future.
San Diego County officials reported Thursday that more than 3 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in the region. That represents 63-percent who have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
About 1.2 million residents of the county 16 and over are now fully vaccinated and county public health officials want to see 75-percent fully vaccinated, which would be about 2 million people. It takes two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or a single shot of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine to maximize immunity against the virus.
So the numbers are looking good. But like many races, the race to vaccinate is getting harder as it gets closer to the finish line.
While there were shortages of the vaccines early on, the problem now is not having enough vaccine doses to shoot into arms. The problem now is that supply is higher than the demand and there are now more doses available locally than the number of appointments that are being made. So the county is moving to make it easier and faster to get the shots, with nighttime hours and more pop-up vaccination sites all over the county.
The hope is that with the state’s scheduled full reopening date and the elimination of the COVID restriction tiers on June 15th, the race to vaccinate will be speeding up.
READ MORE about status of vaccinations and where to get them.
(Photo Getty Images)
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