County’s vaccine supply will tighten
A shortage of the J&J vaccine will hit just as more people become eligible.
In the coming weeks, Los Angeles County’s supply of COVID-19 vaccine will tighten because of an expected shortage of shots manufactured by Johnson & Johnson — just as people with underlying health conditions become eligible for inoculations.
“The next two weeks, we’re not going to get any Johnson & Johnson [vaccine doses]. That’s a manufacturing production issue,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Tuesday, warning that the vaccine supply in March will be tight.
The scarcity is not unique to Los Angeles. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that the state doesn’t anticipate receiving additional doses of that particular vaccine “in the immediate term.”
While the next few weeks will remain “a constrained environment in terms of access to vaccines,” Newsom said during a briefing in South Gate that he’s hopeful that a steadier and stronger stream is on the horizon and that things will “really start to move next month and then the month after.”
“As per state guidance, all nonessential travel should be avoided, and staying local is a good way to do your part in slowing the spread of COVID-19,” the Facebook announcement for the program read.
Atkinson said the university initially planned to give 750 grants, but because of an outpouring of student interest, it upped the cap to 2,000. The anticipated $150,000 program will be paid through philanthropy and other university funds — not student fees or tuition, Atkinson said.
A few students told Atkinson that they had planned to leave town but, in part because of the program, decided to stick around for the break.
“I have the sense that it may have helped,” Atkinson said. “Even if it was the students who were just already planning to stay, it’s still trying to incentivize them to engage in healthy COVID practices.
“There’s a lot of COVID fatigue right now.”
The spring break grant program is part of a broader university initiative called “Healthy Davis Together,” which encourages students to wear a mask, keep a distance, wash hands and get tested regularly.
UC Davis was one of the first college campuses in California to have students quarantined for the coronavirus a year ago.
Recently, the weekly average coronavirus positivity rate in the Davis area has hovered around 0.3%, down from a high of nearly 5% at the beginning of January. Out of more than 9,500 tests in the last week, 27 of them were positive, according to the Healthy Davis Together website.
Atkinson acknowledged that $75 gift cards may not live up to students’ usual spring break plans.
Still, she said: “Hey, if it kept one student to stay, that’s great.”