LA County won't reach full vaccination until summer 2022 at current pace, mayor says

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- At the current pace, vaccinations for the entire population of Los Angeles County won't be completed until June 2022, according to Mayor Eric Garcetti.

The mayor says the grim outlook comes down to a supply and demand issue.

"If you take the calculation of what the county is getting each week -- about 160,000 -- and you just look at the number of healthcare workers and seniors, we won't get through them until June (2021)," he said.

However, Garcetti stresses the pace won't stay as is, especially if other COVID-19 vaccines by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, which require only one dose, get authorized for use.

RELATED: Wait times at Dodger Stadium vaccination site reach 5 hours as multiple issues plague distribution

Wait times improved Thursday afternoon at the Dodger Stadium COVID-19 vaccination site after earlier reports of delays of up to five hours.

At the Dodger Stadium vaccination site, up to 12,000 doses can be administered per day. But one week after the stadium's parking lot transitioned from a testing location to vaccination super site, only 2,000 doses are available daily.

Despite supply limitations, more than 46,000 people were vaccinated this week at the five city-run vaccination sites, which is a 90% increase from last week. Over 80,000 people have been inoculated at the city's vaccination sites.

Five-hour wait times were reported at Dodger Stadium as eligible Angelenos flock to the nation's largest-capacity vaccine site.

Officials say extensive planning went into ensuring the location runs smoothly and effectively, but distribution issues are plaguing the site.

Multiple people said they waited up to five hours Wednesday to get inoculated. AIR7 HD was above the location as a handful of cars remained in line at 11 p.m. -- three hours after the site officially closed.

However, by Thursday afternoon, wait times had significantly improved.

Meanwhile, by the end of Friday, the city of Los Angeles will be finished offering COVID-19 vaccines to all residents of skilled nursing facilities.

RELATED: LA will finish vaccinations for every resident of a skilled nursing facility by Friday, Garcetti says

As the city, L.A. County and California ramp up efforts to distribute the shots, Mayor Garcetti said that the demand "far outstrips the supply of vaccines."

The mayor said that at the beginning of the pandemic, 45% of coronavirus deaths were among vulnerable residents of those facilities.

"Too many people are still dying, and with more contagious COVID-19 variants taking root that may contribute to why we had such a surge in December, there is no task more urgent than getting this site and other sites like it to continue vaccinating our residents," Garcetti said.