County Provides Guidance On Vaccinations

We are learning more about vaccines and what age groups qualify for certain vaccinations. Riverside Public Health Officer Dr. Leung addresses who will be eligible for Pfizer and Moderna, along with distribution of the limited Johnson & Johnson vaccine as the county gears closer to moving into the orange tier. "The Moderna vaccine and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are approved for those 18 years and older," said Dr. Geoffrey Leung, Public Health Officer with Riverside County. When the time comes for those 16 and over to be vaccinated they will have to rely on the Pfizer shot. "The Pfizer vaccine is the only one approved for those 16 years and older, and we are looking forward to seeing additional data from studies that are happening on adolescents and children very soon," explained Leung. This information coming as the CDC announces new guidance for those who have been fully vaccinated. "While we believe the fully vaccinated people can travel at low risk to themselves, CDC is not recommending travel at this time due to the rising number of cases," said Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director. Dr. Leung also giving an update on where the county stands and where the county needs to be in order to see more normalcy come into play. "We have about 2.5 million people who live in Riverside County, that means more or less we need about 1.8 million people vaccinated," said Leung. The county about one-third of where they need to be to achieve herd immunity, but officials say we are headed in the right direction. "And if I can’t do it myself to show this indeed a safe vaccine, and it going to get us to we can get back to normal quicker. you know it’s more important than even the mask," said Jeff Hewitt, Riverside County Supervisor, District 5. And with declining case rates and increased vaccinations, the county is poised to move into the orange tier as soon as next week. "In the next week, there will be some Johnson & Johnson slots available at our public health vaccination sites as well as with our community vaccine providers," said Leung.