Thursday, August 4, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

Hollywood Presbyterian Opens LA’s First Hospital-Based Drive-Thru COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic

by Asbarez Staff
February 5, 2021
in Community, Latest, News, Sponsored, Top Stories
0
CHA HPMC Director of Education Department Lourdes Casao and Director of Acute Care Services Ron Thorstensen preparing vaccines
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

BY ALEEN ARSLANIAN

Committed to serving the local communities, Los Angeles’ CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center has been designated as the first, and currently only, hospital-based drive-through vaccination point of dispensing site for COVID-19 vaccines in the County of Los Angeles. Individuals who meet the eligibility criteria can now receive the Pfizer vaccine at the Medical Center’s drive-through vaccination clinic.

Eligible Angelinos who are interested in receiving a dose of the vaccine can make an appointment online. More appointments will be made available as the Medical Center receives more vaccines from the County.

The drive-through vaccination clinic, which was installed on Thursday, January 28, is manned by CHA HPMC’s doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners who vaccinate around 80 patients per hour. With various stations placed throughout the parking garage, receiving a vaccine at the Medical Center is an overall fast, smooth process. The installed stations include: the check-in/registration area, the vaccination preparation area, the mass-vaccination POD, and an observation area.

Director of Acute Care Services Ron Thorstensen, who has been preparing vaccines since last week, said that the pharmacy receives the supply from the county, stores it, and later distributes the vaccine to the preparation station, on an as-needed basis. As he mixed and drew vaccines with Director of Education Department Lourdes Casao, he noted that the Medical Center does not allow any vaccines to go to waste.

CHA HPMC Director of Education Department Lourdes Casao and Director of Acute Care Services Ron Thorstensen preparing vaccines
CHA HPMC Director of Education Department Lourdes Casao and Director of Acute Care Services Ron Thorstensen preparing vaccines

The Medical Center has designated two lanes for individuals to check-in, and four lanes for vaccination and observation in the parking garage. At the registration station, individuals checking-in to the drive-through vaccination clinic are heavily monitored in order to verify that they meet the eligibility criteria. According to Ray Hahn, Global Chief Operating Officer at CHA Health Systems, staff have had to turn away “at least 10 percent of people who show up.” He noted that letters from employees do not determine eligibility.

After receiving a dose, individuals are asked to wait for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on their medical history, in the observation area. Individuals with severe allergies are typically monitored for 30 minutes. Angelica, a nurse at CHA HPMC who has been stationed at the POD since last Thursday, said that there have been no adverse reactions. “I’ve heard people coming in for their second dose say that they had body aches or chills, but that’s completely normal,” she said. An estimated 500 to 600 people are currently receiving the vaccine at the POD per day.

According to Hahn, a hospital is the “absolute safest place to be vaccinated.” If and when an individual has an adverse reaction, not only are there nurses, nurse practitioners, and doctors on site, but an emergency room, as well. “We are prepared for anything, even a severe allergic reaction,” said Hahn. Individuals vaccinated at CHA HPMC’s drive-through vaccination clinic are given an immunization card with a date for a second dose, a location, and time.

Stressing the importance of the second dose, CHA HPMC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rohit Varma said, “If you want to get to 95 percent efficacy, then you need to get the second dose. With only the one dose you get around 50 percent efficacy.” According to Dr. Varma, when receiving your second dose, it’s best to get vaccinated with the same type of vaccine administered during your first dose. “We don’t have any good evidence for what happens when you mix and match [different types of vaccines],” said Dr. Varma.

CHA HPMC provides individuals waiting in their cars with both snacks and water. They have also placed a number of large heaters throughout the parking garage to provide warmth for staff and individuals receiving vaccines. The Medical Center’s drive-through vaccination clinic offers community members the convenience of being vaccinated while in their own cars, where they are isolated from non-family members until they receive a shot. For high-risk individuals, Dr. Varma noted that a drive-through vaccination clinic is a “better option” than a walk-in clinic, where they can potentially be exposed to the virus.

Community members receiving vaccines at CHA HPMC’s drive-through vaccination clinic have been “overjoyed,” according to Hahn, who emphasized that the Medical Center is looking “at ways to outreach to the underserved. For those who may not have ready access to computers, who may not be refreshing their screens every two seconds. We’re really putting our heads together on serving the underserved in the East Hollywood and the Hollywood community.”

According to Dr. Varma, the vaccine is our “best chance” at reducing the death and suffering caused by COVID-19. “[Individuals should get vaccinated] because it reduces the burden of the pandemic within the community, reduces the amount of people that get admitted into hospitals, reduces the amount of death. Overall, it’s critically important. In the long run it’s important, because we want to achieve herd immunity, which means that the overall pandemic will then die down. Which is where we want to be, because we want our schools open, we want to be able to do things like go to games, see movies, and interact with others. Zoom is great, but it’s not the same as having interactions with people face-to-face,” concluded Dr. Varma.

Asbarez Staff

Asbarez Staff

Next Post
Planting in ATP

ATP Welcomes U.S.’s Renewed Priority on Climate Change

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Congressional Armenian Caucus Leaders Condemn Azerbaijan’s Latest Attempt to Ethnically Cleanse Artsakh’s Armenians

Congressional Armenian Caucus Leaders Condemn Azerbaijan’s Latest Attempt to Ethnically Cleanse Artsakh’s Armenians

12 hours ago
Through Use of Force, Azerbaijan is Forcing Concessions from Artsakh, Says Human Rights Defender

Through Use of Force, Azerbaijan is Forcing Concessions from Artsakh, Says Human Rights Defender

24 hours ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

    Readable Experience

    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned

    Visually Pleasing Experience

    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors

    Easy Orientation

    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Virtual Keyboard
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Navigation Keys

    Asbarez.com Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • asbarez.com
    • August 4, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to