SACRAMENTO, California (AP) – California will begin to set aside 40% of all doses of vaccines for the most vulnerable neighborhoods in the state in an effort to vaccinate people at greatest risk from the coronavirus and the economy of the able to open faster.
Gavin Newsom’s two government officials shared details on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
The doses will be distributed among 400 zip codes, with about 8 million people eligible for shots. Many of the neighborhoods are concentrated in Los Angeles County and the Central Valley. The areas are considered the most vulnerable on the basis of criteria such as household income, education level, housing status and access to transport.
Once 2 million doses of vaccinations have been distributed in those neighborhoods, the state will make it easier for provinces to move through reopening levels that determine the reopening of businesses and schools.
Currently, a country can move from the most limited purple level to the lower red level, based on various metrics, including 7 or fewer new COVID cases per 100,000 people per day over a period of a few weeks. The measure will change to ten new cases or less. In the red level, businesses such as restaurants and gyms can open indoor services at limited capacity.
Also at the red level, schools that want access to new state funding must teach pupils in the nursery school to transition to grade 6 and at least one grade in the middle and high school.
About 1.6 million doses of vaccines have already been given to people in the 400 zip codes, and the state will reach the 2 million mark in the next week or two, officials said.
Once the state gives 4 million doses in the neighborhoods, it will review the criteria for the even less limited orange and yellow levels.
Newsom called shares the state’s “North Star”. Yet community health clinics focus on serving low-income and vulnerable Californians say they have not received enough doses.
The changes are a new twist in California’s vaccination and reopening plans. People aged 65 and over, farm workers, educators and emergency services workers are also eligible for shots.
More provinces have already moved into the red level as caseloads, hospitalizations and deaths decline. The state’s average 2.2% test positivity rate over 7 days is a record low.
Officials are making it easier to move through reopening levels, arguing that the likelihood of widespread transfers that could overwhelm hospitals will decrease as more people are vaccinated. This is especially true as the most vulnerable populations who are more likely to become seriously ill receive the shots.
Although race and ethnicity are not explicit factors in the designation of vaccinations, the 400 vulnerable zip codes overlap heavily with neighborhoods with a higher population of Blacks, Latinos and Asian and Pacific islanders, officials said.
Los Angeles County may move into the next phase of reopening next week with fewer restrictions, though any actual removal of coronavirus-related restrictions would not occur immediately, provincial officials said earlier Wednesday.
Most San Francisco Bay Area counties have moved on to the next phase, allowing restaurants and movie theaters to open indoors with a 25% capacity and gyms with a 10% capacity.