Contra Costa County announced Monday that it is expanding the coronavirus vaccine for people 50 years and older living or working in the country, making it the second Bay Area province after Solano.
California has not been eligible for people 50 and older, but plans to open vaccinations for people 16 and older by the last week of April, Govin Newsom said Friday. The California Department of Public Health declined to say Monday whether it will expand to those over 50 before making it available to everyone.
If California follows the same route as New York and a number of other states, it could take the increasing step of adding those over 50 to the priority list soon. California currently prioritizes vaccines for people 65 and older, essential workers in certain sectors, homeless and incarcerated residents, and people between 16 and 64 with disabilities or underlying health conditions.
It’s been about two months since the state became eligible for people 65 and older. Elderly habit runs a greater risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from COVID-19, and so the policy of policymakers was an attempt to reduce the burden on hospitals.
The announcement of Contra Costa means that people between 50 and 64 do not have to have a disability or underlying medical condition or work in a qualifying sector to be vaccinated. The move comes as many states weaken their age or other vaccination requirements in the same way. New York will qualify residents 50 and older on Tuesday for vaccinations, and Arizona will qualify for residents 16 and older at state-run vaccination sites in three counties on Wednesday, state officials said Monday.
Two states, Alaska and Mississippi, have opened vaccinations for everyone 16 years and older. And according to the New York Times, at least 20 states have announced plans to do so in March or April.
In the contra-province, about 235 000 inhabitants between 50 and 64 according to the country are now newly eligible. The expansion comes as the province began receiving additional vaccine from the federal government for its federally qualified health centers.
“We look forward to the coming months when we are eligible for vaccine, when everyone and everyone is eligible,” Contra Costa County President Diane Burgis said in a statement. “More and more doses of vaccine are coming into the country every week and we expect the trend to continue.”
Other provinces in the Bay Area reached out on Monday that they have not yet increased the qualification for those 50 and older, and that they are monitoring the state’s next steps for guidance. They would like to make vaccines available to more people, but supply constraints make it difficult to predict exactly when this will happen.
“At this point, we are sticking with the current eligible groups of the state,” said Marine County spokeswoman Laine Hendricks. ‘We estimate about 160,000 Marin residents are eligible according to the definitions and still have a number of people to reach until we consider the groups saturated. That said, if the state were to indicate a change and open the group, we would be in line with the state and those individuals would start vaccinating. ‘
Extending the suitability is not necessary, but anyone who qualifies will be able to get their shots right away because the vaccine supply is unpredictable. Since the state was eligible for people 16 and older with disabilities and underlying medical conditions last week, some could not immediately book appointments.
Solano County last week expanded access to people 50 and older. On Monday, provincial officials said they had experienced a sharp 60% drop in vaccine stocks over the past two weeks, and that they should plan the first doses as massive vaccination clinics.
The vaccine supply to California, which is currently about 1.6 million to 1.7 million doses per week, is expected to double by the end of April if predictions from the Biden administration and vaccine manufacturers are true, says Blue Shield of California, which managing the distribution of vaccines. for the state. The increase will mostly be driven by the expected influx of more Johnson & Johnson vaccine starting in early April, Blue Shield CEO Paul Markovich said in an interview on Friday.
The addition of the vaccine made by AstraZeneca, which revealed promising results from a major US trial with an efficiency rate of 79% on the prevention of COVID-19 symptoms, could also be good for speeding up vaccinations. AstraZeneca plans to apply for emergency use permits in the United States “in the coming weeks” and has already been approved in dozens of other countries, including much of Europe. Concerns about a small number of blood clots in people who have recently been temporarily vaccinated have halted the administration of the vaccine earlier this month in some countries, but many have resumed the shots after European regulators deemed it safe.
It is unlikely that the AstraZeneca vaccine would receive FDA approval before May, and that the US may not need it then, as more Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available.
As of Monday, nearly 10 million Californians, about 30% of the population aged 16 and older, have been at least partially vaccinated. Of the group, 5.2 million, or 16%, were fully vaccinated according to state data.
Staff Writer Erin Allday contributed to this report.
Catherine Ho is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ Kat_Ho