City to Continue Efforts to Vaccinate Latinx Community

Supervisor  Kathryn Barger praised the health department’s efforts to vaccinate local residents.

Dr. Ying-Ying Goh presented an update during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

According to the city’s dashboard 35,944 people have been completely vaccinated and more than 60,000 people have received at least one dose.

Right now about 40 percent of the people vaccinated in Pasadena are not Pasadena residents. That is expected to grow according to Dr. Goh.

“In terms of the amount of vaccines you have gotten into arms it is really impressive,” said Supervisor Barger.

But Goh said continued effort has to be made to vaccinate the LatinX population, so far only 20.7 percent of that population has received at least one shot.

“While we really enjoy running the MPODS [medical point of dispensing], we really need to invest in smaller community clinics,” Goh said on Wednesday. “We are working really hard. Every time we have one of those clinics we see a bump up.”

As of Thursday, everyone over 50 will be able to receive the vaccine. On April 15 the eligibility will change again allowing anyone over 15 to receive the vaccine.

“The pods serve a purpose but getting those doses into those small clinics is worth the work,” said Barger.

County officials also fear that upcoming spring break activities along with the Easter and Passover holidays — could prompt gatherings that threaten to quickly spread the virus.

“COVID-19 cases are rising in 27 states, and the U.S. seven-day average saw a 10% increase in cases compared to the prior seven-day period,” said County Health Director Barbara Ferrer on Tuesday. “While L.A. County has yet to experience such increases, this week is critical as we are now two weeks out from when we moved into the red tier and reopened several sectors. We’re also in the height of spring vacations and we’re in the height of many of our spring holidays.”