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UPDATE: LBREPORT.com Makes Public Records Request For Docs Disclosing City's Vaccine Levels, Who Got It, And How; And Today Asks Mayor And City Mgr To Publicly Disclose Number of Residents On City's Vaccine Appointment "Waiting List"
LBReport.com
Publisher First Person
UPDATE: LBREPORT.com Makes Public Records Request Seeking Docs Disclosing City's Vaccine Levels, Who Got It, And How; And Today Asks Mayor And City Mgr To Publicly Disclose Number of Residents On City's Vaccine Appointment "Waiting List"
If LBREPORT.com didn't tell you, who would?
No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report.
LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. Support independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.
This story is part of a continuing first-person series on our experience as a Long Beach resident 65+ in seeking the COVID-19 vaccine at a City-operated site. Initial story at this link with follow up here..
(January 21, 2021, 12:15 p.m.) -- On January 20, 2021, LBREPORT.com (now in our 21st year online) invoked state law -- the CA Public Records Act (CA Gov't Code section 6250 et seq) -- to seek records related to actions by Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and City Manager Tom Modica, and their respective subordinate staffs, in connection with LB's COVID-19 vaccination program. The program is administered by LB city management and its Dept. of Health and Human Services.
LB's Mayor (who elsewhere declared himself LB's "vaccine Czar") has made a number of boastful statements while we've received reports from readers that are decidedly mixed (consistent with statements visible on social networks.) Some individuals 75+ (including LBREPORT.com columnist Doug Krikorian) obtained appointments and vaccinations with ease. However others (a larger number of responses) in ages 65-74 -- who the CDC says should be receiving vaccines now -- have received a City Hall digital brushoff, Robo emaiks tell them they're on some "waiting list" (while we know others similarly situated are now in line. Some volunteered that they were outside the eligible age group but managed to receive the vaccine anyway.
What occurred was reasonably foreseeable. The CDC's new guidance effectively increased demand without increasing vaccine supply. Of course this created a supply vs. demand trainwreck.
LBREPORT.com is interested in knowing who at City Hall was in charge, knew or should have known what was taking place and when did they know it. Thia was while City Hall was dispensng the narrative, featuring Mayor Garcia, that basted LB was supposedly ahead of other cities in vaccine distribution. The truth appears to be that Health Depts in LA County, Pasadena and Long Beach are all facing vaccine shortages...but Long Beach is the one whose Mayor and sought to fog this fact in seeking media attention.
The Mayor and city management have since adjusted their public statements somewhat but the damage is already done. A currently undisclosed number of the city's most at risk COVID-19 population are now unable to obtain vaccinations. As of midmorning Jan.. 21, the City's VaxLB website says (as it has said for days) on page titled "It's Your Turn," -- in red letters - appointments for those 65-74 aren't available.
www.longbeach/gopv/vaxlb, page re 65-74 age group.vieweed 10:30 a.m. Jan. 21, 2021.
So how long is that the list? How were the waiting list decisions made, and by whom? How many other LB residents are on that waiting list right now?
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Among those unable to receive a vaccination appointment is LBREPORT.com publisher Bill Pearl, age 65+ (immune suppressed while fighting cancer) who attempted to sign up for an appointment days ago. He received two robo style digital brushoffs telling him he'd be put on some waiting list. Our sources, while afraid to speak for the record, reliably tell us the delays for this at-risk group could extend into February.
Here's Mayor Garcia's official Jan. 19 statement verbatim:
As of yesterday, more than 2,500 adults over the age of 65 years have been vaccinated in the city. This number does not include those who received vaccine today.
As of yesterday, a total of 21,644 doses have been administered throughout the city (by points of dispensary and medical providers).
As far as concerns with being able to schedule appointments through the City's VaxLB portal, there is an incredibly high demand for vaccines and supply is limited at this time. Nonetheless, appointments are continuing to open up one to two days. It could be likely that appointments became filled after today's presser, at the time that you visited the site today. The City is following all State and CDC guidelines for administering vaccine and we are working aggressively to ensure that everyone in Long Beach who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated when it is their turn.
Readers should be advised to check with their employer or medical provider about vaccine availability and sign up at longbeach.gov/vaxLB to be notified when it’s their turn to get the vaccine.
[adds this on follow-up] 2,500 older adults vaccinated (as of yesterday) consists of adults 65 years and up, including those over 75 years old. These vaccinations started being conducted by the City on Saturday, Jan. 16. As you may know, the City will be holding vaccination clinics specifically for older adults each Saturday until the needs are met.
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Here's what city management's Joint Information Center has told us on Jan. 19:
As of yesterday, more than 2,500 adults over the age of 65 years have been vaccinated in the city. This number does not include those who received vaccine today.
As of yesterday, a total of 21,644 doses have been administered throughout the city (by points of dispensary and medical providers).
As far as concerns with being able to schedule appointments through the City's VaxLB portal, there is an incredibly high demand for vaccines and supply is limited at this time. Nonetheless, appointments are continuing to open up one to two days. It could be likely that appointments became filled after today's presser, at the time that you visited the site today. The City is following all State and CDC guidelines for administering vaccine and we are working aggressively to ensure that everyone in Long Beach who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated when it is their turn.
Readers should be advised to check with their employer or medical provider about vaccine availability and sign up at longbeach.gov/vaxLB to be notified when it’s their turn to get the vaccine.
[adds this on follow-up] 2,500 older adults vaccinated (as of yesterday) consists of adults 65 years and up, including those over 75 years old. These vaccinations started being conducted by the City on Saturday, Jan. 16. As you may know, the City will be holding vaccination clinics specifically for older adults each Saturday until the needs are met.
We will not let City Hall spin this as "confusion" by the public or blame some lower level staffers. Since Mayor Garcia is LB's self-declared "vaccine czar" and (although he has no policy setting authority) has made himself the public face of boastful statements, the buck stops with him.
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LBREPORT.com will today (Jan. 21) ask Mayor Garcia and City Manager Modica to publicly disclose the number of LB residents now on the City's COVID-19 vaccine waiting list and specify how many are in the CDC eligible 65-74 year old category. They know,. They have this figure.
We'll also ask them to provide us -- with name(s) --the state an d federal officials with whom they've been dealing in seeking to increase LB's vaccine supply and sumarie their responses. We'll let you know what the Mayor and City Manager tell us.
If you have information on this, or care to share your experiences with us pro or con, we'd like to hear from you at mail@LBReport.com. If you're a City employee, don't use your .gov email. LBREPORT.com intends to pursue this story further. We will report the full story and go where the truth leads on this regardless of whose toes it steps on.
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Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.
