Five healthcare workers at the Kaiser Permanente hospital in Hollywood were among the first Californians to get the COVID-19 vaccine Monday, ushering in a new phase of a pandemic that has killed more than 21,000 people in the state and shattered the economy.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis looked on as the county’s first workers got their shots, the beginning of what will be a long campaign to vaccinate California, starting with frontline healthcare workers.
The vaccine offers a new promise as California faces the darkest moment of the COVID crisis, with cases reaching unprecedented levels and hospitals filling up. As of Monday, the availability of intensive care beds in the San Joaquin Valley was zero, according to the latest available state data.