Patients enter Levi’s Stadium to receive Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines on February 9, 2021 in Santa Clara. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters.
###
California with high-risk medical conditions will qualify for COVID-19 vaccines starting March 15, the state health secretary announced today.
According to the state’s previous guidelines, people with chronic conditions do not qualify for vaccinations until people aged 65 and older, first responders, food workers and educators have been vaccinated. That amounts to nearly 15 million Californians who were eligible before people with serious, chronic conditions and disabilities could report.
Under the new guidelines, people between the ages of 16 and 64 with high-risk conditions – such as heart, lung or kidney disease, diabetes, cancer and weakened immune systems – or with developmental disabilities will join older Californians, food workers and educators from March 15.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of health and human services in California, said at a news conference today that the state, with a one-month delay, would enable it to build up its vaccine supply, develop ways to qualify and out. to find out how people who are homebound can reach.
Advocates for the disabled and people with serious medical conditions criticized Gavin Newsom for failing to prioritize some of California’s most vulnerable residents, saying he was giving up equity for speeding.
30% of BMT patients die within 30 days after COVID-19 diagnosis. It is not enough to prioritize us for vaccination. It’s so hard to live in a world we consider disposable #HighRiskCA https://t.co/xlWSTcIQ9s
Brooke Vittimberga @brookevitti 12 February 2021
Until last month, California included people with disabilities or chronic medical conditions in the same priority group as Californians between the ages of 65 and 74. They are listed in the level just behind people 75 years and older. But the state has moved to prioritize vaccinations according to age, targeting 65-year-olds and older. This meant that medically vulnerable people were left behind.
Government officials listed the serious health conditions in an advice to suppliers, including:
- 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 ≥ 40 kg / m2)
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus with a hemoglobin A1c level greater than 7.5%
The federal Centers for Disease Control recommends that people with underlying conditions, including heart and kidney disease, diabetes, cancer, weakened immune systems, Down syndrome and obesity, receive the vaccine along with those aged 65-74. But states may adjust the priorities.
Other states differ in how they prioritize people with health conditions.
New York on Monday will vaccinate people with high-risk conditions, including pregnancy and developmental disabilities. Florida is currently vaccinating people who are considered by hospital providers to be “extremely vulnerable” to COVID-19, along with 65-year-olds. In contrast, Kansas placed people under 65 with high-risk conditions behind people 65 and older, inmates, and those living in ‘community areas’ who are not nursing homes.
###
CalMatters COVID-19 coverage, translation and distribution are supported by generous grants from the Blue Shield of California Foundation, the California Wellness Foundation and the California Health Care Foundation.
CALmatters.org is a non-profit media company that explains California policy and politics.