Tentative Village COVID-19 Vaccinations
Village Management Services has been working with MemorialCare Saddleback and the Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA) in developing a COVID-19 vaccination site for Village residents.
Firm details are still in progress among MemorialCare, VMS staff and the county regarding this very complicated but critical operation, but we can share these tentative details:
- OCHCA has allocated 3,000 doses of Moderna to Laguna Woods Village. MemorialCare will be assisting by administering them.
- Distribution will begin Friday, January 22, at Clubhouse 7 and continue through that weekend.
- The program will continue on weekends as vaccine allocations are obtained from OCHCA.
- The vaccine will be distributed to residents 75 years and older first, followed by residents 65 years and older. Residents younger than 65 will be vaccinated when these two age groups are completed.
- Residents of The Towers will be vaccinated in a separate effort. Residents of The Towers will be notified of those arrangements through their General Manager’s office.
We ask that residents please not overwhelm our phone system regarding any vaccine event. MemorialCare, OCHCA and VMS staff are working overtime as a team to make this opportunity a reality. As additional developments, news and updates occur, VMS will notify residents via communitywide email communication, Facebook notices, the website and “This Day” broadcasts on Channel 6.
This complicated process is made especially challenging because of issues obtaining vaccine allocations from the State of California. We want all residents to know that this program is only possible because of the numerous volunteers among MemorialCare and VMS staff ranks. Please respect that this team is working hard and fast to make this happen. Your patience and kindness while this important project comes together is the only way it will be successful.
Vaccination Options Outside the Village
The choice of residents to receive a vaccine through MemorialCare at Clubhouse 7 is a personal one. Those who prefer to attempt a faster vaccination route of course are free to do so. To find answers to “When can I get vaccinated” at other Orange County outlets, visit https://occovid19.ochealthinfo.... According to OCHCA, as of January 11, only those in Phase 1A are eligible for vaccination at this time.
If you fall in Phase 1A, please contact your physician or register online through www.Othena.com. Also, at Othena.com, users can find a full description of the state-mandated phases and eligibility requirements, as well as other requirements for vaccination. Residents can find more information about getting an appointment on Othena’s site and can download the app at the App Store.
Patience Is the Watchword
Please remember a nationwide vaccination rollout is a massive undertaking that relies on a complex chain of companies, organizations and individuals—starting with the vaccine manufacturers themselves. It’s an unprecedented situation, and public expectation does not match reality, as everyone is discovering via myriad news media outlets.
As you can imagine it’s a great deal more than setting out a few tables and quickly being able to provide vaccinations to everyone who seeks them.
Soon enough, though, that train “will be steaming down the track across the country, and people will be vaccinating more efficiently,” said William Schaffner, of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, in a recent article interview with Fortune. “I think it’s taken a little time and it’s taken much more effort to implement an actual vaccination program than Washington ever imagined. Those goals were much too aspirational. So, I don’t think we ought to be too grumpy about this. We need to cut everybody some slack.”
The same Fortune article goes on to say—wisely—that “In the … atmosphere surrounding the COVID crisis in the U.S., restraint and reason may sound like impossible asks. But any close inspection of the facets and layers of a national vaccination rollout should lead us … straight to the realization that, even under the best circumstances, it was never going to be smooth—and it was destined to take longer than anyone wanted to admit.”
To read the entire Fortune article, which goes into significant logical and ultimately hopeful detail regarding the rollout, click here.
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