Vaccine seekers flood county registration system




INOCULATION—Registered nurse Veronica Silva, left, administers the COVID vaccine to William Fernandez of Oxnard on Jan. 12 at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

INOCULATION—Registered nurse Veronica Silva, left, administers the COVID vaccine to William Fernandez of Oxnard on Jan. 12 at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

Ventura County’s seniors are going to have to wait a little longer to receive their COVID-19 shots.

New guidelines handed down Wednesday by the state called for the vaccine to be made available to all people 65 and up, which the county says it will do—once it’s finished inoculating healthcare workers who are part of Phase 1A, which is already underway.

Seniors are Phase 1B, and until the state’s Jan. 13 announcement, were going to be classified as those 75 and up.

Barry Zimmerman, the county healthcare agency deputy director, said during a 1 p.m. press conference Wednesday that the county is still in the process of vaccinating people in the first phase, a group that includes between 35,000 and 40,000 people in health industry related jobs.

“The governor is making that a priority for us, to serve a greater number of the senior population,” Zimmerman said. “But I want to be clear: we are moving them (seniors) up in priority but they’re still in Phase 1B, which is our next phase to go into.”

At its current pace, the county won’t begin Phase 1B until February, Zimmerman said. He said as soon as the county receives doses of the vaccine, it schedules appointments to provide shots.

People sit in a waiting area after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at the Ventura County Fairgrounds Jan. 12 in Ventura. Health officials had everyone who received the vaccine wait for at least 15 minutes in case of any side effects. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

Just this week, the county began vaccinating people in a large building at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura; countywide, 500 people were vaccinated Monday, over 600 on Tuesday and nearly 1,000 were on track for Wednesday, Zimmerman said.

The goal is to quickly get up to 1,000 vaccinations a day.

To date, 15,500 people in the county have received at least one of the two required shots, the county executive said Wednesday.

“When we get to Phase 1B, we will be dealing with the senior population as well as essential workers, and essential workers are those on the front line, and so it would be grocery workers, agricultural workers, law enforcement and so forth,” he said.

Rush to register

The announcement came just as the county was contending with a flaw in the state’s online vaccination registration system that allowed people who are not classified under Phase 1A, and even those with no connection to the county, to book an appointment to receive the vaccine at the fairgrounds.

As a result, the county’s website showed all appointments were booked within hours.

Originally, the county’s public health department was contacting sectors directly with the registration information.

“For example, all the hospital workers were notified and knew where to go to get it, and same with other areas,” said county spokesperson Ashley Bautista via email.

The problem started when the link was made publicly available.

“We decided to make that link public for those that may have been missed through direct sector outreach once we moved to Tier 1, 2 and 3 (of Phase 1A),” she said.

The county shared the information in a news release, on social media, at a board of supervisors meeting, its e-news and in television interviews.

Now it’s asking people to refrain from registering unless they fit in one of the segments included in the first round.

First, it does residents no good to register if they can’t prove they belong to one of the approved segments, officials said.

“You will be turned away at the vaccine site and you will take a spot for someone who is in the current phase,” the county said in a published statement.

“We wish we could vaccinate everyone now. We are advocating for more vaccines so we can vaccinate more people and move through the phases quickly,” the statement went on to say. “Please review Phase 1A Tier 1, 2 and 3 before registering.”

Firefighter-paramedic Tyler Apperson of the Ventura County Fire Department prepares a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Ventura County Fairgrounds Jan. 12. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

The county is now asking people who are not in Phase 1A who made appointments via the registration link to cancel them.

“People should cancel their appointments via the email confirmation sent to them and hold tight until their phase opens,” Bautista said. “As we move through the phases we will continue to do direct outreach with the sectors and announce to the public.”

Likely in response to the flaw, the state announced Wednesday afternoon it would introduce a new system that would notify people when they are eligible, and if they are not yet eligible, allow them to sign up to receive a text message or email when they are.

To see a complete breakdown of the different vaccine rollout phases and/or to sign up for updates go here. The primary page for vaccine information page in the county is venturacountyrecovers.org/vaccine-information.

WHO IS IN PHASE 1A?

Phase 1A of the county’s vaccine rollout is only for those working in a health-related field. Anyone who makes an appointment to receive the vaccine will need to show proof of employment when they arrive to receive their shot. The county hopes to move into Phase 1B, which includes people 65 and older, in early February.