The rollout of Orange County’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution has come with mixed reviews, as the county struggles to keep up with demand.

As of Jan. 19, Orange County’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts were underway at multiple points of distribution (PODs) within the county.

However, high winds promoted a Red Flag Warning on Monday, Jan. 18, temporarily pausing vaccinations at the county’s only Super POD at Disneyland Resort Tuesday.

On Sunday, Jan. 17, the Orange County Health Agency COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force reported more than 108,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed within the county’s Phase 1 population. In terms of first and second doses, HCA reports 88,539 first doses, along with 20,272 second doses administered.

The county’s inoculation totals are now reported weekly, via a “Vaccines Administered” dashboard on the HCA website. Of the more than 108,000 doses, 61 percent of those who received the vaccine in O.C. are female, with men claiming the remaining 39 percent.

“Operation Independence,” which was established on Jan. 7, is a unified command partnership between the county, HCA and the Irvine-based Orange County Fire Authority. Operation Independence has assisted in establishing three regional PODs in Irvine, Huntington Beach and Fullerton, along with the Super POD at Disneyland.

In addition to vaccination sites, the overall goal of Operation Independence, according to the HCA Director Dr. Clayton Chau, is to vaccinate all individuals in Orange County by July 4.

On Monday, Jan. 11, Orange County opened its largest vaccination site at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. Known as a Super POD, the site is capable of inoculating up to 3,000 people per day.

However, the county’s vaccination program has not come without delays.

Technical issues within the Othena App, the mobile application being used by HCA to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments for the public, continue to cause extreme delays. County officials say the demand for appointments is high, which creates increased stress on the system’s bandwidth.

During the press conference to introduce the Disneyland Super POD, Andrew Do, First District OC Supervisor, also acknowledged the ongoing issues with the Othena App, and said it would require the patience of the community as the county works to resolve the issues.

“I know people may have a hard time getting through [the Othena App], because the volume of people trying to get appointments is so high, that the system can be overloaded – the server can only handle so many calls, then sometimes it crashes,” Do said during Tuesday’s press conference at Disneyland. “Be patient. If it’s not available today, try again in the future. We are working on the technical side to increase the bandwidth, to get people in – to at least let them know that we have them in the system.”

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan also said she has seen a greater demand for the vaccine than expected, and said the City Council wants to ensure everything can be done for residents seeking the vaccine in Irvine and the surrounding cities.

“Our goal is to get everyone in the county vaccinated by July 4th and there’s a larger demand for the vaccine than we thought there would be – which is great,” Khan said in an interview with Irvine Weekly. “At the same time, we’re waiting on the state to deliver the vaccines to us, so that we have enough.”

In terms of demographics, the county is currently vaccinating all tiers of the Phase 1A population, which includes high-risk health care workers, and persons 65 years and older.

The HCA’s COVID-19 Taskforce, which was established in September, has also released a COVID-19 vaccine distribution timeline, giving Orange County and Irvine residents an approximated month-to-month schedule of the County’s tiered, multi-phased approach to administering the COVID-19 vaccine to the public.

O.C.’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan is separated by five phases – Phase 1A, 1B & 1C. Within Phase 1, there are three individual tiers – Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 – used to identify level of risk. In the months to come, Phase 2, estimated to begin in February or March, will include critical care workers and moderate risk individuals.

Leaders in Orange County plan to establish four additional Super PODs. While a second location has yet to be announced, members of the Irvine City Council continue to tout the availability of Irvine city spaces, specifically the Orange County Great Park, as a potential host for an Irvine-based Super POD vaccination site.

Echoing the mayor, City Council member Mike Carroll said he hopes the success of the county’s first city-based COVID-19 testing site in Irvine will help spotlight Irvine’s ability to take on mass vaccination with a Super POD at the Great Park.

“We would just really hope to be considered as a prime location,” Carroll said. “I believe I speak for us all, when I say we’d really like to see that at the Great Park, being a central location for the county.”

The city of Irvine has led Orange County in many ways since the pandemic began. In July, as Khan referenced, it became the first city to offer free COVID-19 testing for those living and working in the city.

More recently, Mayor Khan established a pair of dual city-based COVID-19 Task Force teams that will aim at economic recovery and vaccine distribution.

Irvine’s efforts may be paying off.

A report presented by Irvine’s Assistant City Manager Michelle Grettenberg at the Irvine City Council meeting on Tuesday Jan. 12 indicates that Irvine has the lowest COVID-19 rates per capita, compared to surrounding cities.

“Irvine continues to have the lowest per-capita rate of COVID-19 compared to cities closest and similar in population. The next cities have a rate approximately 20 percent higher than Irvine,” Grettenberg said. “This is a testament to the city’s support of the community, and our residents’ pledge to support mitigation measures to ensure the health and safety of our city.”

In Orange County, HCA continues to report drastically high daily COVID-19 cases counts. On Tuesday, Jan. 19, HCA reported 3,995 new COVID-19 cases. It should be noted, however, that Tuesday’s totals include totals from Jan. 18, due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

More troubling, Orange County reported 110 COVID-19 related deaths between Jan. 18 and Jan. 19.

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