UCLA Health to Begin Offering Vaccines (soon)

UCLA Health sent the message below to patients. Note that it also mentions the LA County program.

[Editorial comment from yours truly: LA County seems fixated on mega-sites such as Dodger Stadium. It seems like a really dumb idea for LA County to invite elderly people - many with health issues - to line up at a mega-site.]

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Important COVID-19 vaccine update

Dear Daniel, On Monday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors chair, Hilda L. Solis, signed an executive order directing the LA County Department of Public Health to make COVID-19 vaccination appointments available to residents 65 and older beginning Thursday. However, this recent expansion of eligibility did not come with additional vaccine supply.  We want to acknowledge how stressful it can be to wait for a vaccine for you or your loved ones. We hope you are comforted by knowing that UCLA Health is moving as quickly and efficiently as possible to get all of our patients vaccinated. We are pleased to report that patient invitations for vaccine appointments will begin going out today.  While the vaccine supply remains limited, our initial invites will go to our patients who are the most vulnerable based on their medical conditions. As additional vaccine supply is made available, we will continue to send more invites until we have offered the COVID-19 vaccine to all patients who are 65 and older.  We will email you as soon as an appointment is available and ask you to self-schedule through myUCLAhealth. If you do not have an account, please create one today.  Any patient who does not have an email on file will receive their vaccination invite through mail or by phone.   Can I be vaccinated through LA County? LA County will offer vaccine appointment scheduling online. You may go to their website to see if you are currently eligible to schedule an appointment. There are two vaccines currently authorized for emergency use by the FDA: the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine. We have the same vaccines as everyone else. We encourage you to get your vaccination wherever you can get it the soonest. Where can I get more information? Information is changing on a daily basis, and we want to keep you as up to date as possible. Please reference the information and FAQs about the COVID-19 vaccine online at uclahealth.org/vaccine. You can also get more information on the LA County Department of Public Health vaccine page (or the Ventura County or Orange County pages) or the CDC website. Thank you for remaining engaged as we send out regular updates. We are looking forward to receiving and administering the vaccines for our patients. Sincerely, Johnese Spisso, MPA President, UCLA Health CEO, UCLA Hospital System Associate Vice Chancellor, UCLA Health Sciences Robert A. Cherry, MD, MS Chief Medical and Quality Officer UCLA Health Eve M. Glazier, MD, MBA President, Faculty Practice Group UCLA Health