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Update on Vaccine Planning and Distribution Process

January 19, 2021

To: The Caltech Community
From: Steve Atlee, Vaccine Working Group Chair and Deputy General Counsel
Date: January 19, 2021
Re: Update on Vaccine Planning and Distribution Process 

In an executive order issued late Monday night, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors directed county officials to start making COVID-19 vaccines available to residents 65 and older, beginning Thursday. The Pasadena Public Health Department, which has jurisdiction for the Caltech campus, is currently offering its first drive-thru clinics for residents 75 and older; appointments for this week's clinics have already filled up.

These actions follow the state's decision last week to expand the current prioritization categories beyond health care workers and residents and employees of long-term care facilities to include individuals 65 and older. Local public authorities have said that they are working as expeditiously as they can to make available doses of the vaccine to individuals in the current prioritization categories and will continue to provide information and updates on their process. It is important to note that many vaccine providers in Southern California are reporting a shortage in supplies and may not have doses or appointments available when you first check.

That said, to help ensure that members of the Caltech community stay informed and have access to the vaccine at the earliest point possible, I wanted to share the following resources:

At a campus community level, we continue to prepare for the possibility that Caltech will be approved to administer the vaccine to members of our community directly. To support this process, we will be sending an invitation shortly to all members of the Caltech community to fill out a survey on your interest in and availability to receive a COVID-19 vaccine on campus; these invitations will be sent by email and text message. We encourage all members of the community to complete this survey as soon as they can as the information will further inform and guide the Institute's vaccine planning efforts.

Information on vaccine distribution and availability will continue to evolve. We will provide additional updates by email and on Caltech Together as they become available. A dedicated page on the Institute's vaccination planning efforts and answers to frequently asked questions have been added to the Caltech Together site and will updated as we move forward.