LONG BEACH (CNS) - Long Beach residents aged 16 and older can immediately get vaccinated against COVID-19, with the city announcing today it will offer doses on a walk-up basis at the Long Beach Convention Center.
Mayor Robert Garcia said the walk-up shots were being offered starting Thursday and continuing Mondays through Saturdays at the convention center, for city residents only.
If the vaccination site runs out of doses on any given day, people who were unable to get a shot will be immediately scheduled for a return appointment, Garcia said.
Statewide vaccine eligibility for people aged 16 and older does not technically begin until April 15. Garcia noted that online appointment scheduling for people in that age bracket will not begin until that date.
But the walk-up eligibility puts Long Beach, which has its own municipal health department, ahead of other parts of the county.
Los Angeles County does not plan to expand eligibility to those 16 and older until April 15. County Public Health Director noted Wednesday that more than 5 million people in the county are already eligible for shots, and many have not yet received even a first dose.
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