County Expects 10% More COVID Vaccine Deliveries As Brazilian Strain Appears In San Diego

San Diego CA

25 March, 2021

5:51 PM

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By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego March 25, 2021 Health officials said Wednesday they expect the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses arriving in San Diego County to increase by around 10% for the second consecutive week as the first cases of a Brazilian variant were recorded. "We are beginning to see sustained increases in the availability of new vaccines," said Supervisor Nathan Fletcher at the county's weekly briefing on the pandemic. "We would like to see much larger jumps, and we certainly have much more capacity, but we are building week over week in the number of vaccines that we are receiving," he said. Fletcher said the county has the capacity to administer 35,000 shots a day, so is prepared to move quickly as vaccine allocations increase. As of Wednesday there were 80,295 doses on hand, with 31.2% of county residents having received at least one dose and 19% fully vaccinated. Supervisor Nora Vargas touted the county's success in targeting more vulnerable communities for vaccines. She said 98.5% of South County seniors had received at least one dose, compared to 75.8% of seniors countywide. The same effort employed in the South Bay is being expanded to Oceanside and the City Heights neighborhood in San Diego, Vargas said. Dr. Eric McDonald, the county's medical director of epidemiology and immunization services, said the Brazilian strain of the virus may be more resistive to vaccines, but it's not known whether it's more infectious or causes more severe cases. One case was reported in a resident with no travel history, and one in a non-resident who had traveled overseas. Neither was vaccinated and neither has been hospitalized. "This virus evolves all the time," McDonald said. "We just need to be very vigilant about all the things that we're already doing." Fletcher said the county is "on a good trajectory" to move from the red tier in the state rankings to the even less restrictive orange tier. He said April 7 is the earliest possible date for that, but cautioned that even a small uptick in cases could prevent that. Times of San Diego is an independent online news site covering the San Diego metropolitan area. Our journalists report on politics, crime, business, sports, education, arts, the military and everyday life in San Diego. No subscription is required, and you can sign up for a free daily newsletter with a summary of the latest news.