Last week, coronavirus cases nearly doubled among employees of the Los Angeles Police Department. In response, the LAPD has launched its first mobile vaccine clinics.
The move follows a mandate from the city of L.A. that all its workers, including police officers, be vaccinated by Oct. 15.
Each of the department’s 21 stations will get its own clinic, which will run for 20 hours per day. The program’s goal is to allow officers and other staff who work evening and overnight shifts a wider opportunity to get shots.
On Monday, when the first clinic debuted in the San Fernando Valley, 19 LAPD employees received doses of the vaccine.
The department is also circulating an internal Public Service Announcement, which includes testimony from LAPD employees who have recovered from COVID-19.
Chief Michel Moore told the L.A. Police Commission that one of those messages comes from a COVID-19 survivor who ended up in the hospital despite being vaccinated.
"He's convinced that absent that … vaccine, he would have been in much graver condition, and could have lost his life because of underlying health conditions," Moore said.
He added that the person who gave that testimony was the only LAPD employee who was vaccinated and then hospitalized with the virus.
According to the latest available data from the LAPD, fewer than half of its employees are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, which is well behind the general population.
