COVID vaccinations begin in Inyo County
Cameron Winston, an ER nurse, received the first dose of the much-awaited Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination at Northern Inyo Healthcare District.
Inyo County and NIHD stress said all available vaccine will be offered to health care workers, including nonclinical personnel, and first responders within the 1A tier of the California Department of Public Health Allocation Guidelines. Should there be leftover doses, they will be offered to 1B individuals as defined and prioritized by the California Department of Public Health.
Under those guidelines, those eligible for the 1A tier vaccination include, as it is written, “persons at risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 through their work in any role in direct health care or long-term care settings. This population includes persons at direct risk of exposure in their non-clinical roles, such as, but not limited to, environmental services, patient transport or interpretation.”
In addition, the first 100-dose shipment of the second FDA-approved vaccine from Moderna arrived Tuesday at NIHD, with subsequent shipments from Pfizer in two to four weeks. The initial Pfizer shipment was shared between Inyo and Mono counties, with Inyo receiving 615 doses and Mono receiving 360 doses.
