In the coming days, Los Angeles will shut down several COVID-19 vaccination sites because of vaccine supply shortages, Fox News reported.
Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Wednesday that five non-mobile COVID-19 vaccination sites will shut down temporarily with Dodgers Stadium among them, Fox News reported. The closures stem from the city running through their supply of the Moderna vaccine, which was limited to begin with, according to Fox News. The city aims to reopen the vaccination sites on Tuesday or Wednesday after getting more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Breaking: Shortage of COVID-19 vaccines prompts temporary closure of L.A.’s inoculation centers
City health officials will close five city-run inoculation sites for at least two days beginning Friday, Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
Read more at https://t.co/FD80sFbvkg pic.twitter.com/LlDZbEWxNK
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) February 11, 2021
During a Wednesday briefing, Garcetti took a shot at the Biden administration. “This week we only received 16,000 new doses. 16,000,” Garcetti said during the briefing. “That’s about the number of doses we give out every single day. That is unacceptable,” Fox News reported.
The mayor claimed the 16,000 dose allocation was a drop compared to the 90,000 doses from the week prior, according to Fox News.
Garcetti also claimed that counties with smaller populations and less community spread were receiving more doses than Los Angeles county, saying that he does not want Los Angeles “to take a single dose away from them, but it is only fair that Los Angeles gets a steady supply to meet the moment of our need,” according to Fox News. (RELATED: Dodger Stadium’s COVID-19 Vaccination Site Temporarily Shut Down After Protesters Gather At Entrance)
Mobile vaccination centers will continue operating in an attempt to reach at-risk populations in their neighborhoods.
“Even with fewer vaccines and having to shut down Dodger Stadium we will keep those going this week because we can’t afford to see the outbreaks and quite frankly the unequal deaths that we’re seeing in communities of color,” Garcetti said, according to Fox News.
Previously, the Dodgers Stadium COVID-19 vaccine site had to be shut down on Jan. 30 because of protests that gathered outside. The protestors were reportedly members of anti-vaccine groups, and held signs that said “Save your soul TURN BACK NOW” and “Tell Bill Gates To Go Vaccinate Himself.”