By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office
The County of San Diego announced Wednesday that COVID-19 vaccinations will open Saturday, Feb. 27, to people who work in emergency services, child care and education, and food and agriculture (including grocery stores).
Currently, health care personnel, long-term care facility staff and residents, and those who are 65 years and older are eligible for vaccines.
The County decided to open the vaccines to more people in Phase 1B, Tier 1 as vaccine supplies increase and more progress is made in vaccinating those currently eligible.
Three agencies will take the lead in vaccinating some of the newly eligible groups.
The San Diego County Office of Education and the California Schools VEBA will exclusively schedule appointments for transitional kindergarten (TK) through 12th grade teachers and staff through vebavaccinates.com. The priority will be schools open and planning to open, and then those closed, starting with those in the fourth quartile of the California Healthy Places Index (HPI).
“The state called for setting aside 10% of vaccine supply for education but the County of San Diego is going further,” said County Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten. “We are setting aside 20% to get teachers back in schools.”
Appointments exclusive to the law enforcement community will be organized by Scripps Health.
For farm workers in fields and rural locations, CAL FIRE and Operation Collaboration will take the lead in scheduling remote vaccination events.
All others eligible in the these groups can sign up for appointments through vaccinationsuperstationsd.com. However, patience is advised as the newly opened tier includes half a million people. Not everyone will be able to get an immediate appointment, but more time slots will open as additional vaccines arrive.
People with underlying conditions can begin signing up for vaccinations on March 15.
To date, over 828,000 COVID-19 doses have been delivered to the region with more than 777,000 administered. The difference between the two numbers represents approximately what is expected to be administered the next seven days and doses still to be entered in the record system. More than 6,200 doses were administered and pending documentation.
Those vaccinated to date include more than 196,000 San Diegans who are fully vaccinated, while 19.6% of the population over age 16 has received at least one dose.
More information about vaccine distribution can be found on the County’s vaccination dashboard.
