Appointments for first dose of COVID-19 vaccine drop by half in L.A. County,

Appointments for the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine have decreased by about 50% in Los Angeles County, alarming public health officials who call it a worrisome trend that reflects the slowdown in vaccination rates across the state and country.

“I do know that across the county this past week we saw much fewer people coming in to get vaccinated. For the first time ever, we’ve had appointments at many vaccination sites that have not been filled,” said L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer during a news briefing Thursday,

It is likely to mean that for the first time, the county will not administer 95% of its supply over a seven-day period, she said.

The drop in demand has prompted the county to allow for more walk-ins at vaccination sites, rather than requiring appointments. That flexibility will be allowed through next week, and is likely to extend.

“All of our sites will continue to just take anybody who shows up, even if they don’t have an appointment,” Ferrer said. “I think the strategy moving forward for all of us is going to be to make it as easy as possible for people to get vaccinated. And for some that’s going to mean that we’re going to bring the vaccine close to where you already are at — if you’re at a shopping center; if you’re at a church or a mosque; if you’re at a school.”

To date, more than 7.2 million doses have been administered in the county. More than 45% of residents have been partially vaccinated, according to a Times analysis, and more than 30% have been fully inoculated.

Following months of demand that exceeded supply, demand has plateaued in recent weeks. Health experts and officials have attributed the drop to a variety of reasons including ongoing hesitancy around the vaccine and access issues.

California is poised to receive almost 90,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine next week as U.S. officials resume supplies of the single-shot COVID-19 vaccine.

The expected allocation of 87,800 doses would be the first direct federal shipment of J&J shots since the week of April 12 — when administration of the vaccine was temporarily halted while health officials investigated reports of a rare blood-clotting disorder among a handful of recipients.

Federal health agencies lifted the pause after 10 days last Friday, clearing the way for the shots to resume.

Along with Johnson & Johnson, California is slated to receive roughly 1.15 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 857,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week.

Opening the tap on Johnson & Johnson shipments could boost California’s inoculation pace, which has lagged somewhat since the stoppage.