The City of Long Beach has vaccinated 70% of adult residents against COVID-19, with 253,638 community members age 18 and older having received at least one dose of vaccine as of Thursday.
The city hit the milestone after months of vaccination, hosting 189 community clinics since it began vaccinating residents in December 2020.
The Long Beach vaccination incentive program, that begun on May 11, 2021, also helped encourage individuals to get vaccinated. According to the city, approximately 5,700 free tickets to the Aquarium of the Pacific were distributed through the incentives program.
Since the incentives program began, “13,690 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine series, or one single dose of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine,” the city said.
Long Beach also partnered with the Long Beach Unified School District to host clinics vaccine clinics on school campuses, and hosted pop-up clinics around the city. It continues to host clinics for older adults, mobile clinics and evening clinics.
With new variants emerging, particularly the increasingly abundant Delta variant, Long Beach vowed to continue administering vaccines even after hitting the 70% milestone, and encouraged residents to get their shots if they hadn’t already.
“The vaccines available have been shown to be effective against severe illness, hospitalization and death for the variants that have appeared so far, including the Delta variant,” the city said in a news release.
“I can’t thank the community enough for getting Long Beach to 70%,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “Since the start of this pandemic, our city has led and followed the science. This is a huge milestone but we will continue to work hard to get more folks vaccinated.”
Information about the City’s vaccination locations and hours of operation is available at this website, and while walk-ins are welcome, those who wish to make an appointment can go to this website or call the Vaccine Information Line at 562-570-4636.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
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