Eisenhower Health will be a public COVID-19 vaccination site when California’s Blueshield takes over as the state’s external immunization administrator this week.
Eisenhower Health spokesman Lee Rice said the update would take effect Friday, opening vaccination efforts at Rancho Mirage Hospital to all eligible groups. .
State-round, eligibility for the vaccine extends to Californians age 50 and older on Thursday.
By next Monday, the Eisenhower clinic will run five days a week and will have overtime, adding two days that will run until 6:30 p. m. to accommodate more workers.
“We expect larger shipments more consistently to deliver those expanded vaccine appointments, and we’re already starting to see an improvement in the county’s vaccine allocations,” Lee said.
Blue Shield contacted Riverside County and its vaccine providers prior to this transition, told reporters Dr. Geoffrey Leung, the county’s public fitness officer, who said Blue Shield had collected data from state-approved providers in recent weeks to prepare for replacement and knowledge, for example , how many doses each provider should administer each week.
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“We’ve been looking to plan this for a long time, and Blue Shield has made a vital point, they don’t need to interrupt vaccination efforts,” Leung said.
There will be a transition period, but citizens do not notice any difference between 31 March and 1 April, Leung said. The biggest replacement will be the expansion of eligibility, he added.
“We are confident that Blue Shield has worked hard with us so that the county can have an opinion on how the vaccine will be given,” Leung said.
Tenet Healthcare, which operates Desert Regional in Palm Springs and JFK Memorial in Indio, has earned consistent assignments for spokesman Todd Burke.
Burke’s formula awaits a “smooth transition” in April.
As part of a memorandum with the state, county officials agreed last week to continue administering the doses at their existing vaccination sites. Blue Shield will be guilty of distributing dosages to network providers, such as Eisenhower.
The state registration and dating system, My Turn, will be the main place for appointments; However, Riverside County citizens can still make a stopover on the rivcoph. org/covid-19-vaccine page to view appointment dates and times.
For those who need help, California’s COVID-19 hotline is 1-833-422-4255.
Maria Sestito covers the elderly and elderly population of Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun. Thanks for saying “hello” maria. sestito@desertsun. com @RiaSestito.