Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced that Friday vaccination appointments at City sites will be postponed due to delivery delays caused by severe winter storms across the country.
Approximately 12,500 patients will soon receive a notice by text, e-mail, or phone that their Friday appointment is postponed. Once the City confirms the arrival of a new shipment of doses in the days ahead, all patients who missed their appointment will be prioritized and receive a notification with details for their new automatically rescheduled appointment.
"Severe weather across the country has disrupted travel and shipping nationwide, including delaying the delivery of our vaccines," said Mayor Garcetti. "Our City is ready to administer COVID-19 vaccines swiftly, safely, and equitably — and as soon as doses arrive in Los Angeles, we will get them into people's arms immediately."
"We are collaborating closely with the City of Los Angeles to ensure the vaccination distribution process is as smooth as possible," said, Dr. Sujal Mandavia, Chief Medical Officer of Carbon Health. "Second dose appointments will be prioritized, and it is our intent to administer those second doses within the CDC-recommended timeframe of 42 days after the first dose."
Harsh weather conditions nationwide have held up two separate shipments: 26,000 doses, previously set to arrive on Tuesday, are currently in Kentucky; another 37,000, intended for next week's appointments, are in Tennessee. Grounded flights and icy roads have prevented delivery of these and other vaccine shipments across the country.
Today's announcement only affects the City of Los Angeles' large scale vaccination sites. Vaccinations from the City's mobile clinics will continue as planned. The Mayor and his team will continue to monitor the situation, and officials will determine the status of Saturday's vaccination appointments as soon as possible.
