ALL HEALTH WORKERS ELIGIBLE FOR DOSE

500,000 now qualify for COVID-19 vaccine, but demand exceeds supply

SAN DIEGO

About 500,000 San Diegans, the vast majority of whom work in health care, are now eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine, according to an announcement from the county this week.

The full list, provided on the county’s website, covers a broad swath of health care professionals, paramedics, pharmacists, and nursing home residents and staff.

The county is encouraging anyone who falls into these categories to contact their health care provider and telling those without a provider to call 2-1-1 or visit 211sandiego.org.

The news couldn’t come quickly enough for Dr. Walter Cohen, a primary medicine practitioner in Kearny Mesa who said he and many others have been frustrated to see so little vaccine trickle out to the vast local medical community that exists beyond hospitals.

“There is a lack of effort just to register who we are and invite practitioners so that there could be an organized response,” Cohen said.

Cohen practices osteopathy, in which doctors place their hands on patients to inf luence the body’s internal structures, and sees about 10 patients per day.

Though he said he takes as many precautions as possible, he has often learned that a patient he cared for was infected with the coronavirus.

But while the recent news encouraged Cohen, the broadening of vaccine eligibility came with a caveat from the county: “provided there are enough doses.”

The county reported Wednesday that 120,000 vaccine doses have been received and 51,000 San Diegans inoculated. That may be an underestimate due to reporting delays, and the figures don’t include doses sent to the military or administered in nursing homes through a partnership with CVS and Walgreens. As of now, the county does not report the total number of vaccine doses that have f lowed into San Diego and reached the arms of resi