Morning Brief: LA's Vaccination Lineup

Good morning, L.A.

It’s not news at this point that the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine hasn’t been as smooth — or nearly as fast — as state and local officials first hoped.

L.A. County doesn’t have enough doses to reach the number of healthcare workers officials planned to inoculate by the end of January, and Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged that the speed of distribution in California so far is “not good enough.”

So if you’re wondering where, amid the confusion, you stand in the vaccine line, you’re not alone. Fortunately, there’s a website (and a newsletter!) for that.

According to Dr. Paul Simon, the L.A. County Department of Public Health's chief science officer, the department will work with the media, healthcare providers, and organizations like the AARP to let civilians know when it’s their turn. Plus, he added, residents can sign up for an email alert.

Keep reading for more on what’s happening in L.A. today, and stay safe out there.

What Else You Need To Know Today

• Desperate to stay afloat, all sorts of small businesses, from restaurants to bookstores, have turned to crowdfunding as a last resort.
  
• L.A. officials will ramp up enforcement on people who refuse to wear masks in public.
  
• It's dry, windy and hot, making for a high risk of wildfires.
  
• In California, the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history is run largely by the same overworked and underfunded local health departments tasked with COVID-19 testing and contact tracing.
• Disneyland is getting rid of its popular Annual Pass program.
• Governor Gavin Newsom has mobilized the California National Guard over concerns of civil unrest leading up to and during next week's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
• Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., virtually. Explore the era of dinosaurs, from your car. Take an armchair tour of early L.A. film locations or Rudolph Valentino haunts. Dine with the Fonz and his friends. Listen to mindful music during the darkest time of the year. And more.

Weekend Reads

There's a lot going on in the world right now, and it’s hard enough to keep up with our day-to-day lives, let alone to stay current on the news. But if you have some time this weekend, here’s what you may have missed:

Biddy Mason, a formerly enslaved woman, went on to become one of the most important and wealthiest landowners, midwives and philanthropists in 19th Century Los Angeles. (LAist)

College students whose financial aid packages are based on higher, pre-pandemic income are potentially losing out on millions of dollars in grants, loans and scholarships. (LAist)

Regardless of what you may have heard, Los Angeles has had good pizza for a very long time. We created a Pizzapedia to help you find it. (LAist)

As a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C., another group took to the streets of downtown L.A. in solidarity, holding "Stop the Steal" signs. Here’s what it looked like. (LAist)

Black physicians are getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to build trust in a community that’s long faced systemic injustice at the hands of the medical system. (L.A. Sentinel)

Artist Lalo Garcia’s most recent work, a mural in the City of San Fernando, addresses children forced to live in cages by the Trump administration. (San Fernando Sun)

James “YAPO” Valenzuela, a victim of the pandemic, was a legend in the San Gabriel Valley hardcore punk scene. (L.A. Taco)

The third-largest home in America has been revealed, in Bel Air. (L.A. Mag)

Before You Go … How To Order In N’ Out Fries

(Photo by Elina Shatkin/LAist)

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We love In-N-Out Burger. We discuss it on the radio. We cover its political donations. We'll fight you if you talk smack about it. On the 5 freeway, we'll drive past dozens of other fast food joints so we can eat at the outpost in Kettleman City, even when it means waiting in a 30-minute line on Thanksgiving weekend. But as much as we love the sinner, we hate the sin — and In-N-Out's original sin is their fries.

The fries at In-N-Out are pale, limp, undersalted potato tubes that begin congealing into a soggy, oily mass the moment they emerge from the fryer. God help you if you wait until you're done with your burger to eat your fries. By that time, they're hot garbage — except that they're cold.

Which brings us to the workaround.

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The news cycle moves fast. Some stories don't pan out. Others get added. Consider this today's first draft, and check LAist.com for updates on these stories and more. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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