As of January 4, 2021, Riverside County has received 45,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines combined. Since late December they have started vaccinating healthcare workers at hospitals, skilled nursing facilities (including patients), correctional hospitals, psychiatric facilities, and first responders who are EMTs and paramedics. Over the next two weeks, they are going to expand into Phase 1a, Tier 1 through Tier 3. They estimate that 110,000 healthcare workers make-up these next categories. After making significant inroads into Phase 1a, then they will begin vaccinating Phase 1b. There is no definite timeline available at this point when they will reach the next phases. Updates on the timeline will become available as Riverside County receives more doses from the manufacturers. An estimate of when they will begin vaccinating the general population will be sometime in March, but that will depend on how quickly they receive the doses and the manner in which they will be distributed. The timeline is very fluid with several unknowns.
The Pfizer vaccine has been approved for those age 18 years and older. The Moderna vaccine has been approved for those age 16 years and older. Once vaccinated, it takes 10 to 14 days before a person becomes resistant to the coronavirus. Both vaccines require a second shot to achieve close to a 95% effective rate demonstrated in clinical trials. Those who get the Pfizer vaccine need to wait a minimum of 21 days to receive the second shot, and those who get the Moderna vaccine must wait a minimum of 28 days to receive the second shot.
For more information, go to: https://www.ruhealth.org/covid-19-vaccine
