Andrew Diego had no idea what was going on across the street from Harun Coffee in Leimert Park on Tuesday. The young barista was just doing his job, taking orders for lattes and cold brews.
But he was the perfect example of why a group of Black and Latino activists and labor leaders had called a news conference to demand more equity in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
“We’re asking the local government to step up to the plate, to the original plan that the state of California had rolled out,” said Simboa Wright, a board member with Service Employees International Union Local 721. “We have folks that are going to work to serve the public every day, every night, 24/7, to make sure that services are rendered to you.”
Daily COVID-19 case numbers continued tumbling Tuesday in Los Angeles County, but the death toll climbed above the 17,000 mark, with more than 200 new.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he believes schools can begin to reopen even if all teachers are not yet vaccinated against COVID-19, provided that proper safety measures and supports are in place although some teachers unions, including United Teachers Los Angeles, have said vaccinations should be a prerequisite to resuming in-person instruction.
“We can safely reopen schools as we process a prioritization to our teachers of vaccinations,” Newsom said Wednesday.
“I’d love to have everybody in the state vaccinated that chooses to be vaccinated,” he said during a briefing held to announce the future opening of a community vaccination center at the Oakland Coliseum. “Not only would I like to prioritize teachers, we are prioritizing teachers.”
Though limited supplies have slowed the COVID-19 vaccination effort, L.A. County health officials say the county is exceeding the progress of other large jurisdictions and is getting doses into people s