Things are going so well that on Tuesday, health officials announced that LA County is now eligible to advance to the least-restrictive yellow COVID-19 tier in California's reopening framework, according to the latest data from the state.
LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said new health orders with more relaxed restrictions are expected to be published on Wednesday and will take effect Thursday.
Sutton said a combination of factors has produced the region's sharp recovery from the COVID-19 crisis it was in earlier this year: the easy availability of testing, the willingness of county residents to practice social distancing and mask wearing and the county's aggressive push to get people vaccinated.
"I just got an alert yesterday on my phone -- the same alert that you get when there's a missing child, the one that goes on everyone's phone -- and it was just letting people know that you can get a vaccine anywhere in all these locations," Sutton said.
As of April 30, more than 8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered to people across LA County, including more that 3 million who are fully vaccinated, according to county health officials.
"With ample supply, our efforts are now focused on making it as easy as possible for everyone 16 and older to get their vaccine," county health officials said in a statement.
"Although younger people are less likely to become severely ill from COVID-19, young people are the main cause of transmission," Sutton said.
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