Mayor Eric Garcetti receives first dose of COVID-19 vaccine
LOS ANGELES - Mayor Eric Garcetti received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, his office said Thursday.
Garcetti, who at 49-years-old does not meet California's COVID-19 vaccination eligibility guidelines, received the vaccine on Jan. 21 after he spent five days assisting efforts at the Dodger Stadium mass vaccination center.
"Mayor Garcetti has spent many days, as he is today, at Dodger Stadium, assisting on the frontline of the vaccination effort -- directly interacting with hundreds of Angelenos each day,'' Garcetti's Deputy Communications Director Alex Comisar said.
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"The medical personnel strongly recommended that he receive the vaccine as they have recommended and provided for other field staff and volunteers at the site who have close contact with clients."
California's COVID-19 vaccination guidelines allow jurisdictions to offer vaccines to people 65 and older.
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• California allowing residents 65 and older to get COVID-19 vaccine
• LA County residents 65 or older can now get COVID-19 vaccine
The next group eligible for vaccines include those working in education and childcare, emergency services and food and agriculture.
During a press briefing Thursday evening, he said the state should give the city of Los Angeles the flexibility to decide when different groups receive COVID-19 vaccinations.
"Give us the flexibility and allow us to make sure we are getting vaccines into those communities where people are dying disproportionately,'' he stated.
Mayor Garcetti says the city simply does not have enough vaccines now.
Currently there are five city-run vaccination sites in Los Angeles and as of Jan. 28 a total of 152,612 people have been vaccinated. Dodger Stadium is the biggest vaccination site in the nation and has the capacity to vaccinate 12,000 people daily.
If you are eligible for the vaccine visit VaccinateLACounty.com or call 833-540-0473.