More than a million people living in San Diego County have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 600,000 are fully vaccinated, according to the county health department.
That means more than one out of every five San Diegans is vaccinated, with the supply of doses continuing to grow. In fact, San Diego County was expected to receive 33% more doses this week than it did just two weeks ago.
More doses means more openings for vaccination appointments, which is a big relief for many of the hundreds of people at UC San Diego's vaccination site on the Monday the eligibility pool expanded to anyone over the age of 50.
“There was everything open today, everything open tomorrow, everything open Wednesday," said Melanie Dunn, 64. "It was amazing."
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Dunn was pleasantly surprised, especially after her failed attempts to find an appointment through California’s MyTurn.gov website.
“They just kicked me out,” Dunn recalled.
Dunn was relieved when she got a notice from her healthcare provider, UCSD, telling her it was her turn to get a shot.
Several other people told similar stories to NBC , saying this week they saw plenty of appointments available.
“Hats off to everyone involved with this, because as a society, I think we’re doing a lot better than we were doing six months ago,” commercial pilot Dave Egner said. “I’m pretty pleased.”
Egner said he was amazed at how smooth the vaccination process was after a slow start, when there was little availability of either doses or appointments.
The timing was just right. On April 1, millions of Californians age 50 and older became eligible for vaccinations. On April 15, the eligibility pool gets even larger, when everyone 16 years old and up becomes qualified to get their shot.
“It was painless,” said Heidi Nicholas of Ramona after getting her dose of the Moderna vaccine.
Nicholas said she was “stoked” by how quickly and efficiently she got her shot, and she had this advice for people who are still waiting for their turn: “Don’t stress over it, because everything’s opening up, you know what I mean? It’s gonna happen. It’ll be OK. Relax. It’s all coming. It’s good.”
