California is adding 4 million to 6 million more people to the suitability list to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but officials warn that being vaccinated remains a frustrating process as long as chronic shortages remain on offer.
From 15 March, people aged 16 to 64 who are disabled or at high risk for diseases and deaths due to COVID-19 will be eligible. That would bring the total population of California from 17 million to 20 million.
But with such limited supplies, it is ultimately up to local providers to decide who gets the vaccine immediately, with medical workers, first responders, people 65 and older, teachers and essential workers all competing for shots.
“We are all frustrated,” said Dr. Paul Simon, chief scientific officer of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said. “We know we could have done a lot more if we had available doses.”
“Re-prioritizing doses is not getting any more doses, and that’s what we need,” adds Kat DeBurgh, executive director of the Health Officers Assn. of California.
Deficits prevail
Some parts of California had to risk the vaccination of certain eligible groups due to insufficient shipments others had to cut back how many people receive a first dose to ensure that there are enough shots available to give people the required second dose.
In Los Angeles, some vaccination sites that would already be on Friday due to stock shortages ran up doses sooner than expected, and people had to start turning away on Thursday.
Of the 219,700 doses that arrived this week, more than half are needed to deliver second shots, according to Simon.
“It’s simply to live up to our commitment to ensure that everyone who received the first doses three to four weeks ago will receive a second dose,” he said during a briefing on Friday. ‘But there will be a large number of doses available as first doses. It will be less than 50%, but still a significant number. ”
The priority for the first doses available is, according to him, communities hardest hit by the pandemic, “to ensure we reach those at greatest risk.”
Health officials across the state say their ability to deliver vaccines exceeds the number of doses available at this stage. In LA County, for example, Simon said suppliers could probably administer up to 600,000 doses a week if they had the stock.
8.1 million doses delivered
To date, approximately 8.1 million vaccine doses was delivered throughout California and nearly 5.3 million were administered, according to data compiled by The Times.
There is hope that an influx of vaccinations is on the way. President Biden announced on Thursday that his government is assured a total of 600 million doses, divided equally between Pfizer and Moderna, which will be delivered by the end of July. That would be enough to completely vaccinate the approximately 260 million people nationwide who are eligible for the shots.
“We can not move fast enough,” Govon Newsom said earlier this week. ‘We are sober; we note the scarcity is the number of vaccines available in the United States. Nevertheless, we are not naive about our responsibility here in the state of California to move these vaccines out of the freezers and into people’s arms. ”
The vaccine deficiency has become a chronic problem. Vaccination sites in Los Angeles planned closes Friday due to supply shortages doses ran out sooner than expected and had to turn people away on Thursday.
The deficit exacerbated growth concern about vaccine supplies amid a week that was already unpredictable, with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti calling Wednesday on vaccine issues “a huge obstacle in our race to vaccinate Angelenos.”
“We vaccinate people faster when new bottles arrive here in Los Angeles, and I’m very worried now,” Garcetti said.
Who is eligible now?
Those eligible in March include those with:
- Cancer, currently with weakened or immunocompromised condition
- Chronic kidney disease, stage 4 or higher
- Chronic lung disease, dependent on oxygen
- Down syndrome
- Immuno-compromised state (weakened immune system) due to solid organ transplantation
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease
- Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathy (excludes hypertension)
- Severe obesity (body mass index greater than or equal to 40 kg / m2)
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus with hemoglobin A1c level higher than 7.5%
Simon said he hopes many of the province’s providers will “vaccinate their own patients, understand the medical conditions they have” and that “implementation will be relatively straightforward.”
But he said during an information session on Friday: “I think it will also require very clear definitions of who is eligible for this new phase.”
“It definitely means there is even more urgency now to get a larger amount of vaccine,” he said.