Vaccine eligibility expanding to all county residents 16+

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials announced Monday that county residents 16 and older will become eligible to receive the vaccine Thursday, with sign-ups beginning as early as Wednesday.

Officials said the vaccine can be received by younger residents by accessing the county’s vaccine scheduling website at https://myturn.ca.gov. The site will be updated

Wednesday to reflect the update eligibility requirements, according to Supervisor Hilda Solis.

The numbers of cases in L.A. County are now below the numbers reported during the first

stage of the pandemic last year, according to Public Health officials.

During a news conference Monday, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said the numbers for L.A. County have dropped significantly over the past few weeks, and that the numbers of outbreaks in institutions and facilities within the county also have dropped.

“The seven-day average number of daily cases … remains at about 400 new cases per day,” said Ferrer. “Our daily case numbers for the week ending April 4 are now lower than what we reported one year ago, at the beginning of April last year, which as you know was at the start of the pandemic.”

As of April 4, more than 5.1 million doses of vaccine have been administered across the county, Ferrer said. Of these, 3.3 million were first doses and more than 1.8 million were second doses, meaning that about 25% of people in L.A. County who are eligible to receive the vaccine are now fully vaccinated.

County Public Health officials also released the following updated COVID-19 statistics Monday:

▪ Countywide COVID-19 cases reported in the past 24 hours: 411

▪ Total COVID-19 cases in L.A. County: 1,226,191

▪ New deaths related to COVID-19 reported in the past 24 hours: 3

▪ Total COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County: 23,479

▪ Hospitalizations countywide: 470, 24% of whom are in the ICU

▪ Hospitalizations at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of April 1: 4, with 1,191 discharged since the onset of the pandemic

▪ COVID-19 cases reported in the Santa Clarita Valley in the past 24 hours: 7, 5 of which came from the city of Santa Clarita.

▪ Total COVID-19 cases in the SCV: 27,406

▪ Total COVID-19 deaths in the SCV: 298

▪ Percentage of vaccinated people (at least one dose) in the city of Santa Clarita as of April 4: 39%

▪ Percentage of vaccinated people (at least one dose) in the SCV as of April 4: 37.2%