After a year marked by grim milestones, California has solved a hopeful obstacle in the fight against COVID-19: the administration of the 10 millionth vaccine dose.
Officials confirmed Friday that the state had exceeded the threshold, curved by a one-day record in terms of vaccinations, with 330,155 shots fired.
In the past week, providers in California have administered just over 251,000 doses a day – according to data compiled by The Times, the highest moving average yet.
Nearly 77% of the 13.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine delivered to local public health and medical providers across the country have been distributed.
“The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter,” Gavin Newsom tweeted on Friday.
About 6.64 million Californians – or 21% of those at least 16 years old – have now received at least one vaccination, according to the state Department of Public Health.
More than 3 million Californians have both received the required doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. It accounts for about 10% of the population aged 16 and over.
Among those fully vaccinated, nearly 1.5 million people are 65 years and older, representing about 23% of the state’s senior population.
Despite reaching the 10 million dose milestone, officials across the country say they are still hampered by a limited amount of vaccines, which is the state’s initial goal of administering more than 12.5 million doses by the end of February. , hindered.
Newsom said this week that the state is designing a system that can deliver 4 million vaccines a week. Next week, however, California will receive only about 1.62 million doses.
The only restriction, the governor said Thursday, “is the manufactured stock.”
Government officials told a vaccine advisory committee on Friday that the hope is that the grant will increase in the long run. Shipments are expected to grow in the coming months, and the launch of the single-dose vaccine Johnson & Johnson will also increase inventory.
But in the short term, vaccines will remain scarce as more second doses are reserved, while a growing number of people are struggling to get their initial shots as fitness expands.
Significant changes are also planned for California’s vaccination strategy.
This week, officials announced that the state will now send 40% of its vaccine supply to underserved communities. Specifically, the award will be earmarked for the lowest 25% of the census treaties ranked in the California Healthy Places Index – a measure of socioeconomic opportunities that take into account economic, social, educational, housing and transportation factors. .
The state will also begin on March 15 to make vaccine available to people with underlying health conditions.
The vaccine is currently available to those 65 years of age or older, residents of long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, or working in education and child care, food and agriculture, health care, law enforcement or emergency services.