Los Angeles (AFP)

Folding chairs, sleeping bags, hoods ... for a few days in Los Angeles, long queues have formed around certain vaccination centers: all or almost all are young people who hope to be vaccinated against the coronavirus with leftovers from opened bottles that would otherwise end up in the trash.

At this stage, the county of Los Angeles offers vaccinations only to employees of the medical sector, considered "at risk" because on the front line, and to people aged at least 65 years.

Appointments are filling up at full speed but a small number of patients do not show up, and that is precisely what these young people count on, some of whom have been queuing for nearly eighteen hours, in front of the Kedren. Community Health Center, in the popular neighborhoods of South Los Angeles.

"If this vaccine is going to go in the trash, it is of no use to anyone? So since we are young and in good enough health to spend the night outside and have it, we might as well do it", explains one to AFP. of them, Elaine Loh.

"I think everyone would agree. If it's to throw away the vaccine, what's the point? And anyway, everything is closed at the moment, so otherwise I would be sleeping," adds another young, Adam, who also resides in Los Angeles.

Success is not guaranteed, and officially Los Angeles County health officials do not sanction the administration of the Covid vaccine to people who do not meet the criteria.

“Officially, there is no queue outside, no waiting list,” notes Dr Jerry Abraham, who oversees vaccination operations at the Kedren Community Health Center, a nonprofit NGO.

But once a vial of Moderna vaccine is opened, "we have to use it within six hours."

"There are times when the influx of patients drops and we have vaccine doses that expire. However, I refuse to let a single drop go to waste," explains the doctor.

"In these cases, we have to quickly find people to administer these doses to. It is the same case at the end of the day, around 4:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m., depending on the number of people who have not attended. presented and the number of vaccine syringes we have left, ”continues Dr Abraham.

“It's like winning the lottery,” he says.

Depending on the day, he estimates that 1 to 3% of daily appointments (800 to 1,000 in total) are not honored, without this figure necessarily corresponding to the potentially wasted doses of vaccines that would go to the young people in the queue. spontaneous.

"It hurts so much to see them lining up around the block at 2:00 am. And I can't promise them anything," sighs Dr. Abraham.

© 2021 AFP