Rush to Vaccinate as COVID-19 Deaths Surpass 500,000 Nationwide
Roughly one out of every 475 Los Angeles County residents has died from COVID-19 over the past year.
Santa Monica College student and Student Veterans of America Chapter President Mahadi Haque receives his second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from Mount Saint Mary’s Professor Zane Stumbrs at the Los Angeles Fire Department Crenshaw drive-through clinic on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021, in Los Angeles, Calif. Efforts to vaccinate Americans against the deadly virus, which has killed roughly half a million Americans since last February, have only intensified as more transmissible virus variants have emerged across the country. (Michael Goldsmith | The Corsair)
Local and state officials are racing to ramp up vaccination efforts as new variants of the coronavirus are emerging across the Golden State. Inadequate supplies, logistical difficulties, and anti-vaccination sentiment have all significantly impeded progress towards getting California back to pre-pandemic normalcy.
Over 500,000 Americans have been killed by COVID-19 since last February, with California surpassing 50,000 COVID-19 deaths within the last week. Despite having the largest death toll of any state, California ranks just 28th out of 50 in per capita COVID-19 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Los Angeles County, which includes the City of Santa Monica and Santa Monica College (SMC), has been particularly hard hit by the virus. With over 21,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, roughly one out of every 475 residents have died from COVID-19 within the past year.
President Joe Biden addressed the American people during a Feb. 22 commemoration for the half-million Americans lost to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its resulting disease, COVID-19. “Today we mark a truly grim and heartbreaking milestone — 500,071 dead. That’s more Americans who have died in one year in this pandemic than in World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War combined,” said Biden. “That’s more lives lost to this virus than any other nation on Earth.”
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the emergency use of a third COVID-19 vaccine, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. The single-dose shot becomes the third FDA-approved vaccine — Pfizer-BioNTech's two-dose vaccine was issued emergency use authorization on Dec. 11, followed by Moderna's two-dose vaccine on Dec. 18.
A sign instructing individuals to mask-up at the Los Angeles Fire Department Crenshaw drive-through clinic on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021, in Los Angeles, Calif. Efforts to vaccinate Americans against the deadly virus, which has killed roughly half a million Americans since last February, have only intensified as more transmissible virus variants have emerged across the country. (Michael Goldsmith | The Corsair)
Blue Shield of California took over vaccine distribution across California earlier this week, with the state hiring the large private insurer to streamline the thus-far underperforming system. California’s vaccine distribution had previously been a decentralized patchwork of differing eligibility criteria and supply chains that varied from county to county.
SMC sophomore and Student Veterans of America Chapter President Mahadi Haque wasted no time in getting his vaccination shot when given the opportunity. “This is our way out, essentially, of the pandemic,” said the ex-Army medic who served for over three years at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and now works as an emergency medical technician. “Survivability is not all that matters. They’re seeing a lot of long-term health effects from this virus — lung scarring, cardiac issues...I’m just not willing to roll the dice on being a normal, healthy person again. Because that’s not guaranteed.”
As to some people’s hesitancy in getting the vaccine, Haque said, “It’s kind of ironic that people are more willing to focus on the one or two [possible] adverse reactions from a vaccine, yet are so willing to roll the dice [with] the virus itself… over 20 million [Americans] have already got their first dose — that's confidence. That's a lot of people that have gotten the vaccine already, and everyone's fine.”
SMC Public Information Officer Grace Singh Smith made the schools’ position on vaccinations clear last week, stating, “The COVID-19 vaccine has been proven to be a safe and effective way to prevent the disease, both in those who get vaccinated and those who come into contact with them. We encourage members of the college community to get vaccinated, as soon as they are eligible, and help save lives.”
California’s revamped vaccination system will be tested in the coming months and so will the public’s patience and dedication to following public safety measures as a means to ending the pandemic.
Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) workers direct traffic at the Los Angeles Fire Department Crenshaw drive-through clinic on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021, in Los Angeles, Calif. Efforts to vaccinate Americans against the deadly virus, which has killed roughly half a million Americans since last February, have only intensified as more transmissible virus variants have emerged across the country. (Michael Goldsmith | The Corsair)
