A new addition to the county’s breakdown of coronavirus data by city and community now indicates how many vaccinations against the disease have been administered to residents.
The county public health department is additionally using a map of Los Angeles County to present the data visually, and is presenting data on demographic breakdowns, including age ranges and vaccination rates by race or ethnicity.
As of the Tribune’s press deadline this week, at least 3,015 San Marino residents had received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccines, representing 27% of the city’s population. In total, more than 1.6 million of L.A. County’s approximately 10 million residents have received one or both vaccination shots.
For the most part, vaccinations have been made available to healthcare workers and residents 65 or older. According to a 2019 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau, around 20.7% of San Marino’s population is 65 or older. Although there is no official tabulation of employment by residents, the city’s median home price exceeding $2 million and average annual income of $166,000 places its typical residency in a bracket that includes high-level medical professionals.
The county next expects to open vaccination availability to a wide range of essential workers, including teachers, those working in food or agricultural jobs and first responders such as police officers. As they are paramedics, nearly all of the firefighters with the San Marino Fire Department have been vaccinated, according to Fire Chief Mario Rueda. (Two have not — one who is on leave and another who had COVID-19 previously.)
Rueda said the SMFD has been approved as an agency to distribute vaccinations, but the primary hang-up for it is simply that there aren’t enough shots to go around.
“We’ve applied as a vaccination center, but there are no vaccines, so we’re sort of at the whims of the state at this point,” he said in a phone interview. “Most recently we applied to support even a mobile site in town, but so far we’re still waiting.”
In the event SMFD does play host to a vaccination site, Rueda said a location such as the San Marino Center could be considered, but county officials may just bring the site to them.
“It appears as though the more likely scenario would be a mobile site,” he added.
As of the press deadline, there have been 356 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among San Marino’s residents, among whom 10 have died from the disease. In the prior 14 days, there have been just eight cases recorded. Countywide, daily new cases have plummeted for weeks following a winter holidays surge that pushed Southern California’s healthcare system to the brink.
“It’s stayed in the ones and twos [per day] here, nothing like it was after the holidays,” Rueda said. “I’m cautiously optimistic. I think the message all along has been to stay the course.”
New Data Shows 27% of City Has Been Vaccinated
