Thousands of COVID shot appointments available in the Coachella Valley
No more long lines and wait times for the coronavirus vaccine at valley clinics.
Thousands of appointments are still available this week as the state expands eligibility.
News Channel 3’s Dani Romero has more on how the county is balancing the shift between supply and demand.
Things have dramatically changed within the last month. Its no longer demand outpacing supply. County health officials said we have made progress but we still have a long way to go.
With so many Americans anxious to get the COVID-19 vaccine, this is not what we’re used to seeing thousands of available slots this week in Riverside County.
“That's one of the reasons I came today wasI looked up and noticed so many spots that were available and decided I should get here right away," said Robert Levy, who got vaccinated at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
Appointments used to filled up within the hour but now they sitting available all day thats been the trend at the Indio fairgrounds and the Palm Springs Convention Center.
“More vaccinators than people trying to get vaccinated," said Barry Elldge.
Once the Pfizer vaccine is removed from ultra-cold storage, it needs to be used within days or go to waste.
With the increased supply, we wanted to know how county officials are planning now.
“What we do is we send out the ones for what we have appointments for, and there'll be some that are, that are leftover, but we're able to, in many cases, uh, pull them back again and then, and then use them the next day.”
Jose Arballo from Riverside County explained that officials are vigilant to ensure single dose is put to use especially after the vaccine has been thawed.
“Our team here, they've gotten very clever about how to distribute the vaccinate," said Jose Arballo, Public Information Specialist for Riverside County Health. "The vaccines to make sure we don't do that waste.”
When pulling up the county site and the my turn website, no options for the Johnson and Johnson shot in the valley.
“We're also using it for a mobile teams in some of those hard to reach communities," said Arballo. "So that we give them a single dosethat’s all they have to worry about.”
County Health officials told News Channel 3 within the next week they will be starting a campaign to help educate the community on vaccinations.
Riverside County has launched an online survey that seeks input from residents regarding their views about the COVID vaccine.
The survey is part of an effort to better understand the public’s feelings about vaccination and the experiences they have had with coronavirus to this point.
The survey is available in both English and Spanish and all answers are confidential.
The community survey may be accessed below, and is available in both English and Spanish: CLICK HERE.
Residents wishing to learn more about COVID vaccinations in Riverside County, register for an appointment can visit:www.rivcoph.org/covid-19-vaccine or call 2-1-1. The current wait times for 2-1-1 are less than five minutes.
