Dodger Stadium will become a vaccination site by the end of the week, as Los Angeles officials close the nation's largest testing operations Monday.
City and county officials hope as many as 12,000 people will be vaccinated each day at the site as the effort to vaccinate Americans ramps up.
<p>So far, vaccinations across the state have been <a href="http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/acd/ncorona2019/covidvaccinedistribution/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">distributed in phases</a> to individuals in the top tier, which include health workers and those in nursing homes. Los Angeles officials have not clarified when residents in lower tiers will become eligible. But in New York, this week the governor began giving frontline workers including teachers, mass transit workers and older residents access to the vaccine. </p><p>According to the <a href="http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/vaccine/vaccine-dashboard.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">county website</a>, 33.6% of all received vaccines have been used for a first dose. California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week said the state would work to <a href="https://dot.la/healthvana-2649755611.html" target="_self">accelerate vaccination</a> efforts.</p><p>A spokesperson for Curative, Pasqualle Gianni said Monday morning the company had been contracted to administer the testing at Dodger Stadium, but later that afternoon said "Curative does not yet know our role." </p><p>The company came under scrutiny in the last week <a data-linked-post="2649786016" href="https://dot.la/curative-false-negatives-2649786016.html" target="_blank">after the FDA released a warning</a> that their COVID tests could carry false negatives. The one-year-old startup run by Fred Turner had a previous contract with the city and state to distribute and administer the Moderna vaccines at skilled nursing centers in Los Angeles County.<br/></p><p>"Vaccines are the surest route to defeating this virus and charting a course to recovery, so the City, County, and our entire team are putting our best resources on the field to get Angelenos vaccinated as quickly, safely, and efficiently as possible," Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement on Sunday.</p><p><span></span>The shift in resources in L.A. will lead to a drop in testing capacity, but will triple the number of vaccines available to residents, officials said in Sunday's announcement. The plan also halts COVID-19 testing at the Veterans Affairs Parking Lot 15 near Jackie Robinson Stadium. </p><p>Over one million L.A. residents have been tested at Dodger Stadium since it began operations in May of last year. The change will not impact existing testing appointments made for this week.<br/></p><p>Free tests will still be offered at eight permanent locations and six mobile sites across L.A. and the city said it's opening additional mobile teams and a site at Pierce College in Woodland Hills. </p><p><em>This story has been updated and corrected to reflect comments from a Curative spokesman regarding their role in administering vaccinations for the city. </em><br/></p>
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Healthvana, Once Focused on HIV Results, Partners with LA on Vaccination Records and Reminders
Jan 06 2021
Los Angeles officials are preparing for the next phase of a massive vaccine campaign that will test the region's capabilities. Most Angelenos aren't expected to get the vaccine until the spring or summer.
Among the stickiest of problems is how to ensure patients are given a second vaccine dose or "booster dose" meant to make the inoculation 95% effective and authenticate who has the vaccine.
<p>With no national strategy, individual counties have been desperately looking for solutions. In Florida, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-05/u-s-officals-resort-to-party-invite-sites-for-vaccine-rollout?sref=4Kf8RwDw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bloomberg reports</a> that officials trying to rollout the vaccination have turned to party reservation system Eventbrite as government websites become overwhelmed. </p><p>In Los Angeles, the nation's most populous county, officials have enlisted Healthvana, a healthcare startup that in 2015 began delivering HIV results to users over its platform.</p><p>Since April, the company has provided coronavirus test results to patients accessing a number of county testing sites — including one at Dodger Stadium — through its partnership with labs like <a href="https://dot.la/coronavirus-rapid-test-curative-los-angeles-2645906983.html" target="_self">Curative</a>.</p><p>It's likely that a slew of tech solutions will spring up as more vaccinations are administered across the country and the need to show proof of immunization grows. </p><p>"There won't be one system across the country that manages all of this, from what we know," said Healthvana CEO Ramin Bastani. "We're not trying to be the only system."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTIzOTM3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTc4NzY3MH0.QfgRQ1zxxbSMQ__vgfx9GTRWSad8EbFTuPfYyqx0l94/img.jpg?width=980" id="42643" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b11a761a2490147a97664697dce2ccb8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Healthvana" data-width="1283" data-height="877" />
</p><p>After receiving a dose of the vaccine from a county vaccination site, Healthvana sends the patient an email or text message to view their digital vaccination record. Users can then opt-in to receive text messages and email reminders for the second dose and store the record in their Apple or Google Wallet.<br/></p><p>The Department of Public Health said this technology will not replace the paper vaccination cards. Those without smartphones can print a PDF version of the Healthvana record or stick to that hard-copy documentation. </p><p>"It's kind of similar to credit cards as a form of payment," Bastani said. "It's not like you can only use an American Express across the country and that's the only form of credit card." </p><p>But Bastani is careful about how he's positioning this tool and says these records don't serve as an "immunity passport." </p><p>L.A. County has administered 75,015 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 7,871 doses of Moderna's. Together, that represents just 30.7% of all doses allocated to the county.</p><p>In a briefing Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state remains in phase one of its <a href="http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/docs/about/COVIDVaccineDistributionPhases.pdf" target="_blank">vaccination plan</a>, which prioritizes the roughly three million health care workers and long-term care residents. Phase 1B will first target people over 75 and workers in education in childcare, emergency services, food and agriculture. </p><p>"We are working aggressively to accelerate our pace," he said. "That said, it's gone too slowly."</p><p><em>This post has been updated. </em></p>
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Last month, Lupe Duarte read an announcement from her colleagues that City of Hope was recruiting for a COVID-19 vaccine trial. The mother of three, who also cares for her infirm parents, volunteered immediately.
This afternoon the 48-year old project manager became the first patient to get a dose of the vaccine developed by a team of researchers at City of Hope.
She's part of the biotech institution's phase 1 trial, which tests a drug's safety typically over one to two years. The process is likely to last just three months as regulators speed up approval to deal with the pandemic. The next stage, expected to span about eight months, would test on more volunteers and further assess safety and efficacy.
<p>City of Hope is one of only a <a href="https://dot.la/covid-vaccine-los-angeles-2649451926.html" target="_self">handful of Southern California organizations</a> that are working on a vaccine. Their shot will require two doses and must be stored about 60 degrees below celsius, but the team is looking into whether it can be freeze dried and stored at room temperature. </p><p>"I think a lot of people still fear the clinical trial aspect," said Duarte, who is expecting a few check-in calls this weekend and plans to visit the clinic for regular blood samples. "There is no doubt in my mind that this is safe for me."</p><p>Duarte is no stranger to the trial process. She's worked in clinical research since 1996, beginning with prostate and lung cancer studies. Over this next year, as Duarte is monitored and observed for side effects to the vaccine, she'll experience clinical trials as a patient instead.</p><p>"If I'm healthy and I'm eligible and I get to participate, why shouldn't I?" she said. "I get to help others, like our cancer patients have done over the years."</p><p>She wants more people of color and Latinos, who have been especially hard hit in the pandemic, to participate in clinical trials. </p><p>Across the country, an estimated 237 biotech companies and research labs have joined the race to develop their own vaccinations as pharmaceutical giants prepare for the first wave of mass distributions. Just 38 of those, including the vaccine from City of Hope, have started clinical testing. </p><p>Very few companies will pull it off. Over 90% of clinical trials fail, said Esther Krofah, executive director of the Milken Institute's FasterCures. Her team has <a href="https://www.covid-19vaccinetracker.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tracked vaccine makers</a> since March, when just a couple dozen companies had entered phase 1 trials.</p><p>"We need to make sure we have incentives for second and third generation vaccines, to get as many of them over the finish line," she said. "The goal would be to have a handful or more that can meet the global demand."</p><p>Krofah said factors like temperature storage matter most when it comes time to distribute. But some vaccines in development do have a leg up, she said, including those requiring just a single dose.</p><p>"Those are very hopeful in that you might be able to scale without the burden of somebody coming back twice," she said. </p><p>Don J. Diamond, a City of Hope professor and vaccine researcher, said his team received the Federal Drug Association's go-ahead to start human trials for the vaccine a few weeks ago. Their vaccine utilizes a synthetic platform technology called an MVA to trigger the immune system by stimulating antibodies and T cells.</p><p>Duarte and her five siblings rotate as caretakers for their mother, who is bed-bound and immunocompromised. Her father was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. The vaccination gives her some sense of relief that she won't put her parents at risk. </p><p>"Cancer doesn't stop," she said by Zoom, hours before she would drive from her home in Glendora to the clinic in Duarte. "We still have to continue taking care of our parents."</p><p>In 28 days, Duarte will be back for her second dose. </p>
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