Disneyland will be the first large-scale vaccination site in Orange County – the Orange County Register

On the day the coronavirus death toll in California reached 30,000, Disneyland and other sites like Dodger Stadium were established as major vaccination sites.

Newly confirmed infections are increasing at a staggering rate of more than a quarter of a million a week, and over the weekend there were 1,163 record deaths reported – Orange County surpassed 2,000 reported deaths.

After being deprived of visitors for months due to the pandemic, Disneyland will soon see thousands of guests as it operates as one of the five planned mass vaccination sites in Orange County.

County officials announced the deal Monday, Jan.11, to use the park in their efforts to ramp up vaccinations as the number of Orange County residents hospitalized with the virus hovers over 2,200.

“Disneyland Resort, the largest employer in the heart of Orange County, has stepped up to host the county’s first Super POD (distribution point) site – taking on a monumental mission in our vaccination distribution process,” Acting Chairman of Supervisors Andrew Doe said in a press release.

Supervisor Doug Chaffee, whose area includes Disneyland, said his voters “have been severely affected by COVID-19. These supergranules are very important in stopping this deadly virus.”

The county has not shared details of how or exactly where the vaccination site operates on the Disneyland property, but the press release said it will open later this week to service – by appointment only – people who live or work in Orange County who are eligible based on a priority list. the state.

The state is currently still in the highest priority phase of vaccination, which targets people working in the healthcare field, including hospital and laboratory staff, pharmacies, paramedics, emergency medical teams and home health aides, as well as residents and workers in long-term care facilities.

Most of eligible workers will be notified by the employer and directed to make an appointment through the Authina app, the county helped with the development.

“Disneyland Resort is proud to help support Orange County and the City of Anaheim by using our properties, and we are grateful for all of their efforts to combat COVID-19,” said Dr. Pamela Hemel, Disney Parks’ chief medical officer, said the experiences and products. “After a year in which many in our community faced unprecedented hardship and uncertainty, there is now reason to be optimistic about the vaccination.”

Other planned mass vaccination sites have not been identified by the county – spokeswoman Molly Nicholson said contracts are still in progress – but OC Voice previously mentioned they could include the Costa Mesa fairgrounds, the Greater Orange County Park in Irvine, and Notre Berry. A farmhouse in Buena Park and the campus of Soca University in Aliso Viejo.

Large-scale vaccinations will be carried out for thousands of medical workers at baseball fields in Los Angeles and San Diego and at fairgrounds in Fresno and Sacramento. They are among the cities that converted huge parking lots into massive vaccination stations to increase vaccinations after the initial release fell short of expectations.

Governor Gavin Newsom acknowledged that the introduction of vaccines has been very slow and has pledged to give 1 million injections this week, more than double what has been achieved so far.

This effort will require what Newsom calls a “hands-on deck-training approach,” including vaccinations by pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, dentists, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and members of the California National Guard.

Orange County is also recruiting volunteers to help manage its sites, including people with medical training and others for non-medical assignments. County officials set a goal of completing all vaccinations by July 4.

California’s death rate currently ranks third nationally, after Texas and New York, which ranks first with nearly 40,000 deaths. It took California six months to record the first 10,000 deaths. But in just one month, the total increased from 20,000 to 30,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Nevertheless, Newsom and the state’s chief health official, Dr.Mark Galley, said there was a ray of hope, with hospital treatment stabilizing last week, and vaccinations about to shift to a higher level.

The number of new hospital admissions fell from about 3,500 a day earlier this month to about 2,500, California State Secretary Ghali said, a “big difference” that shows the increase in the previous holidays of Christmas and Hanukkah “is not as large as we expected.” Health and Human Services Agency.

Galli and Newsom said recent dreadful jumps in new positive cases show that the country may have simply allowed itself time to prepare for what officials still expect the month-end peak to be driven in part by New Year’s celebrations.

Ghali said the state might have a “small breathing room”, large enough for hospitals to prepare, to ensure they can provide enough oxygen both in medical facilities and when sending patients home, and to augment 1,000 newly contracted medical workers with others. 1,000 or so before the increase reaches its peak.

“I don’t want to think we’re out of the woods by any measure,” said Ghali, adding later that we’re in the early stages of the holiday hike. Seems encouraging at the moment. “

Information on pollination efforts in Orange County can be found at occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/covid-19-vaccine-resources.

The Associated Press and writer Brady MacDonald contributed to this report.