In a major shift in policy, California officials said Wednesday night they will now devote 40% of available COVID-19 vaccines to residents in the most disadvantaged areas in a move designed to both slow the spread of coronavirus and speed up the reopening of the economy.
But the move adds yet another shift in the state’s rocky vaccine rollout, which has been marked by big shortages of supply. It comes at a time when more people are becoming eligible for immunizations.In a few weeks, the state will recommend to counties that millions of people with underlying health problems and disabilities join the line. With large amounts of vaccine now reserved, there will be less to go around to other groups.
Currently, 1.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered to individuals who live in the state’s hardest-hit communitiesspecifically, those in the lowest quartile of the California Healthy Places index, a measure of socioeconomic opportunity that takes into account economic, social, education, housing and transportation factors.
Counties’ tier assignments are based on three criteria: average daily case rates, adjusted based on the number of tests performed; the testing positivity rate; and a health equity metric intended to ensure that the positivity rate in poorer communities is not significantly worse than the county’s overall figure.Currently, counties generally must have an adjusted daily coronavirus case rate at or below 7.
Per 100,000 residents, L.A. County currently has an adjusted daily case rate of 7.2; Orange, 7.6; Riverside, 11.3; San Bernardino, 9; San Diego, 10.8 and Ventura, 10.6.Once a total of 4 million doses are administered to these lower-income communities, state officials will also relax the thresholds for entering the subsequent tiers, the orange and yellow tiers. However, they did not specify what those new thresholds would be.
Administration officials confirmed that the state’s previously announced dedicated dose share for educators — 10% of California’s weekly allotment — will remain in place.Providers throughout California have administered more than 9.4 million total COVID-19 vaccine doses to date. Though the state has worked to ramp up how quickly available shots are going into arms, tens of millions of residents are still waiting for their turn in line.
JoshMankiewicz Florida Governor vaccinating his rich friends needs to take note. He won't.
Quite transactional framing and commentary below.
Lol I feel bad for the people living in California. Everyone else is open and loving life and you can’t even figure out that schools aren’t spreading the virus. It must be hard being such a progressive woke state, so backwards you think you’re looking forward.
Hopefully disadvantaged residents means the residents most likely to spread the virus statistically and this is not just a feel good strategy that is not actually effective 🤞
Vaccinate our educators and let's get our schools open everywhere.
Disadvantaged in what way?
Fingers crossed that this will help to get our schools open sooner
Holy shit. Yes!!!! I wonder what the orange yellow revisions will be.
Vaccinate teachers for Gods sake ! we need schools to open up 🙄
That's how you do it, you vaccinate enough people to start reopening. The phases could've toggled sooner but people don't like to be told what ro do. Everyone thinks they're woke and in one way or another, most contributed and few helped. Healthcare workers helped. Clubs didn't.
DrKhan/Lazarus
Q u
Equality.
Good.
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