NBC 7 has heard from many viewers this week about extreme delays and traffic jams at San Diego County's Petco Park mass vaccine site, with some people even reporting that they had been turned away.
There was confusion on Monday when the county announced it would vaccinate a new age group: residents 75 and older. Meanwhile, the UC San Diego health system, which provides medical support at the site, has also said that in would provide vaccines to San Diegans who are 65 and older.
Part of the announcement from the county mentioned that “walk up” appointments were acceptable if the system had openings, but just for the day on Monday. Some misinterpreted that to mean meaning a person 75 and older could walk-up without an appointment.
A spokesman with the county of San Diego clarified the new guidelines on Tuesday, limiting the site to 75 and older for now.
The temporary allowance granted for walk-ups meant, in fact, that there were openings online for appointments -- and not that people could simply arrive on-site -- so the county decided to allow patients 75 and older to make appointments online and then physically walk up to the site instead of waiting in their cars.
Corinne McDaniels-Davidson, an epidemiologist and the director of the Institute for Public Health at SDSU, told NBC7 that, while the process can be frustrating, in an unprecedented pandemic scenario such as this, kinks can be expected in the vaccination rollout. Also. different guidelines from different entities -- including the Centers for Disease Control, the state and the county -- regarding the physical supply of vaccines can add to the confusion, with differing vaccine rollout processes throughout the state of California.
