New tab on online virus dashboard gives vaccination breakdown

Long Beach residents now can have a more detailed glimpse of how the city’s coronavirus vaccination program is unfolding.

The city added a “vaccines” tab to its online coronavirus dashboard Friday, which shows how many vaccines the city has been allocated, how many have been administered, which ZIP codes are receiving the most vaccines and the racial breakdown of people who have been inoculated, among other data.

The dashboard does not, however, show what percentage of people in different groups, like those ages 65 and older, for example, have received the vaccine.

Officials, though, said Friday that 60% of residents at least 65 years old have been vaccinated so far.

“I’m incredibly happy and proud that 60% of our 65-plus seniors have been vaccinated,” Mayor Robert Garcia said in a statement. “As we continue to vaccinate as many people as possible, it is critical that we make data accessible and open to the public.”

As of Friday, it appeared the highest share of people who have received the vaccine so far have lived in the southeastern 90803 ZIP code, followed by the northeastern 90808 ZIP code. And 39% of people who

have been inoculated so far are White, even though they make up 28% of the population.

City officials have previously acknowledged the racial and geographical inequities in Long Beach’s vaccination program so far, but they have said that’s because seniors in Long Beach — the biggest group of people to be allowed to receive

the vaccine to this point — are Whiter and more likely to live in higher income neighborhoods than the city as a whole.

To help address those disparities, Long Beach has launched clinics in North, West and Central Long Beach to ensure everyone has access.

Friday’s news came as another three Long Beach

residents died from coronavirus-related causes, bringing the city’s death toll to 832.

The city also reported 103 more coronavirus cases. There have been 51,195 cases announced in Long Beach since the pandemic began.

About 48,238 people — or 94% of those who have tested positive — since have

recovered.

The number of people being treated in local hospitals for the virus continued to fall Friday, down to 134 from 148 the day before.

Long Beach and Los Angeles County, though, still have more progress to make before moving from the state’s most restrictive purple tier for coronavirus management. To move

to the next-most-restrictive red tier, Los Angeles County must have both a positive testing rate of 8% or lower and a new daily case rate of 7 or fewer per 100,000 people.

Los Angeles County currently has a positive testing rate of 5.1%, according to state data, and a new daily case rate of 12.3 per 100,000 people.