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Riverside County is not getting nearly enough COVID-19 vaccine.
More than 700,000 county residents are eligible to receive the vaccine, yet the county has gotten only 114,000 doses, according to a statement on the county’s website.
Nearly 80 percent of those doses have gone to hospitals, physicians, clinics, and pharmacies, where they’ve vaccinated workers and residents. Shipments are usually received weekly and quickly distributed to providers or administered at a public clinic.
“This is not a volunteer or a venue issue, it’s a vaccine issue,” said Supervisor Karen Spiegel in the statement. “We’ve had plans in place for mass distribution for some time, [but] plans and places are not the concern.
“We do not have enough vaccine available to meet the demand.”
Demand is so great that, when thousands of vaccine clinic appointments were opened, all time slots were booked within two hours. Clinic appointments are booked until Jan. 22.
“This is a time when we need to work together and not direct focus to areas that are not the problem,” said Supervisor V. Manuel Perez in the statement. “This is a supply and demand
