Vaccine Eligibility Expands to Residents 50-64 Years Old; Residents Urged to Avoid Unnecessary Risks

53 New Deaths and 757 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 53 new deaths and 757 new cases of COVID-19. To date, Public Health identified 1,220,246 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 23,189 deaths.

Starting today, Thursday, April 1, residents 50 through 64 years old are eligible for COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, on April 15, vaccines become available to any resident in Los Angeles County who is 16 and older.

Currently, there are not yet enough doses to vaccinate everyone that is eligible, so we continue to ask for patience until supply increases.  The County has prepared for increased allocations and expanded eligibility and is working on expanding collective capacity to be able to administer 1 million doses a week by the end of April. Public Health remains laser-focused on ensuring an equitable distribution of vaccines and ensuring eligible residents and workers in hard hit communities have increased access to vaccines.

For information about who is eligible for COVID-19 vaccine in L.A. County, how to make an appointment if it is your turn, what verifications you will need to show at your vaccination appointment, and much more, visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) and www.VacunateLosAngeles.com  (Spanish). Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

Of the 53 new deaths reported today, 12 people that passed away were over the age of 80, 25 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, 13 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, and two people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach.

“To the families and friends mourning a loved one lost to COVID-19, we wish you healing and peace,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Highly contagious variants are spreading throughout the country, and we continue to have concerns about the increased risk of transmission during spring break and holiday travel and parties. Not only are people from different places gathering in large numbers in airports, but also at social gatherings when they are at their destination. These scenarios present the perfect opportunity for the COVID-19 virus to find new hosts and spread.  During this critical time in our recovery journey, we have to avoid taking part in activities that are risky and must continue to protect each other by following the safety measures.”

Travel and gathering in-person with others increase the risk of getting and spreading COVID-19. While COVID-19 numbers have decreased in L.A. County, transmission is widespread and increasing in many other states and countries. The risk of spread increases when people are not diligently following safety measures including consistently and correctly wearing face masks, keeping their physical distance and when people gather indoors. Please note that L.A. County requires all persons to self-quarantine for 10 days when arriving in L.A. County from other states or countries.

Private gatherings indoors are permitted with up to three separate households with masking and distancing required at all times and should be limited to two hours. Outdoors is still safer than indoors. People who are fully vaccinated can gather in small numbers indoors with other people who are fully vaccinated without required masking and distancing. Individuals are considered fully vaccinated two weeks or more after they received the second dose of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or two weeks or more after they received the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Fully vaccinated people should continue to wear a mask and maintain physical distance in public.

There are 652 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 25% of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for nearly 6,102,000 individuals with 19% of people testing positive. Today’s daily test positivity rate is 1.6%.

County Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional actions you can take to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov.

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