Evan J. LancasterIn an effort spearheaded by Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan, and a partnership with MemorialCare, the city of Irvine was able to provide first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to 200 of the most at-risk seniors in Irvine.
On Friday, Feb. 19, the partnership between Irvine and Memorial Care helped establish a small trial clinic at the Lakeview Senior Center. Khan added that it was important that this program protected seniors, in the sense that it would provide both vaccine doses. The small trial clinic will return to the Lakeview Senior Center in March, in order to administer the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Those that were vaccinated on Friday will be back on March 19 for their second dose. The partnership with MemorialCare came complete with a 2-dose program,” Khan wrote in a text to Irvine Weekly on Monday, Feb. 22.
The partnership has vaccinated some of Irvine’s most vulnerable seniors – who might have limited access to the vaccine – those living with mobility issues, many of whom are homebound and rely on services like Meals on Wheels, and Congregate Meals.
With nearly 20,000 senior citizens in the city of Irvine, community members who participate in the city’s senior activities and members of the Irvine Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) age 65 and over were also eligible to receive the vaccine.
“I’m thrilled to be able to provide vaccines to our city’s most vulnerable residents,” Khan said. “The City Council and I have listened to residents’ requests and needs to bring vaccines to the city, and this is just the beginning of the great work my COVID-19 Task Force is capable of achieving through our partnerships.”
In December, Khan established a set of dual COVID-19 Task Force groups – a COVID-19 reopening and recovery task force, aimed at reopening the local economy, along with a COVID-19 specific task force, to which Khan appointed the county’s top health care professional to oversee virus mitigation strategies in Irvine and beyond.
Khan selected the following Orange County health professionals to be a part of Irvine’s first COVID-19 Task Force roster:
- Marnie Baker, MD, MPH, Memorial Care – Pediatrics
- Clayton Chau, MD, OC HCA
- Amy Durham, Director of Development, NAMI
- Shruti Gohil, MD, UCI – Medical
- Grace Lozinski, MD, Hoag
- Hassan Movahedi, MD, PhD, Kaiser Permanente
“We’re looking at ways to really improve and encourage our community to safely support businesses that are, in turn, acting safely as well. So, we want to build this partnership up, making sure that businesses protect themselves, their employees, their customers – and follow the guidelines,” Khan said in an interview with Irvine Weekly prior to the announcement.
On Monday, Feb. 22, Orange County reported 253 new COVID-19 cases, with 38 new COVID-19 related deaths. As of Feb. 15, the Orange County Health Care Agency COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force has administered a total of 512,348 doses.
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