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LA County Rolls Out Free COVID Vaccines
COVID tests wait to be distributed Jan. 27 in Los Angeles.
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Jon Kopaloff
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Topline:
Los Angeles County is offering free COVID-19 vaccines to people who are uninsured or underinsured. The shots will be available at public health pods set up in Ted Watkins Memorial Park in South L.A. and Obregon Park in East L.A.
Why it matters: With cold weather approaching, more people will begin gathering indoors in greater numbers, which means a possible spike in COVID-19 infections. L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said recent clinical trials show that the updated vaccines are safe and provide additional protection against severe illness associated with the mutated virus.
"Our own L.A. data for the past 90 days shows that people who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 were three times more likely to be hospitalized and four times more likely to die from COVID 19 then people who were vaccinated," she said.
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When will it be available? Vaccine rollouts have already started, but this time around the shots are no longer free for everybody. While the public health pods are intended for the uninsured and underinsured, Ferrer said people with insurance will not be turned away. However, she recommends checking with your insurance provider to ensure you don't get charged.
“Because availability is less than we expected at this point, we do want to emphasize that people in those higher risk groups should make their appointment or visit a site to get vaccinated earlier rather than later,” Ferrer said.
What about the children? Kids as young as six months old are eligible to get vaccinated at the pods. But pediatric doses won't arrive until later in the week. You can find which vaccines are available under appointment at https://myturn.ca.gov/.
Will more vaccine sites open? Ferrer said more than 1,000 vaccination sites across the county will open over the next few weeks. Over 400 will be free for uninsured or underinsured folks.
How the vaccine will help: According to Ferrer, the new vaccine is estimated to prevent about 400,000 hospitalizations, and 40,000 deaths over the next two years.
Go deeper: Updated COVID vaccine will be available in L.A. County by next week
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