All Californians age 16 or older eligible for COVID vaccine from mid-April
(Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
All California residents who are at least 16 years of age will be eligible for a coronavirus vaccine starting April 15.
The announcement was made in a statement issued by the Governor’s office on Thursday in which officials projected a steady increase in supply of COVID-19 vaccines around the same time.
Currently, California receives around 1.8 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine per week from various suppliers, including Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer.
That supply is expected to jump to 2.5 million doses per week by mid-April and 3 million doses per week by the end of April.
“With vaccine supply increasing and by expanding eligibility to more Californians, the light at the end of the tunnel continues to get brighter,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a written statement. “We remain focused on equity as we extend vaccine eligibility to those 50 and over starting April 1, and those 16 and older starting April 15.”
Newsom praised President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as well as “countless public health officials across the state” for their efforts in making the expanded eligibility possible.
The remark comes as some health officials — including top officials in Solano County — criticized their counterparts in Sacramento for slowing down distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in their communities.
Earlier this week, the Solano County Public Health Office issued a press release charging state health officials with playing politics over how much COVID-19 vaccine is allocated to California’s 58 counties.
“We’ve seen a significant decline in the allocation of vaccine to the County in recent allocations,” Dr. Bela Matyas, Solano County’s top health officer, said in the press release. “The lack of adequate supply has caused us to pause scheduling many first-dose mass-vaccination clinics, drastically slowing our effort to target and vaccinate our most vulnerable populations.”
County officials said Solano’s allotment of the vaccine was significantly lower compared to more-financially affluent communities, despite Solano County’s efforts to administer the vaccine as widely as possible in an attempt to curb COVID-19 infections.
“While Solano County has already administered 134,000 vaccines to date, the new allocations of available doses have dropped by 60 percent,” health officials complained.
Similar situations are playing out in Santa Clara, Los Angeles and other California counties where health officials have had to postpone or cancel some vaccination appointments, leaving residents there wondering when they will finally get the shot.
State health officials blamed a constriction in vaccine supply, pointing to production issues while simultaneously trying to draw attention to their small victories along the way.
As of Wednesday, state officials said around 16 million doses of the vaccine had been administered since the first vaccine gained approval from federal regulators last December. Percentage-wise, that puts California behind some other states, including New Mexico, South Dakota and Pennsylvania (though still ahead of more-populous states, including New York).
On Thursday, state health officials said the light at the end of the tunnel does not come without its share of continued challenges.
“We are even closer to putting this pandemic behind us with today’s announcement and with vaccine supplies expected to increase dramatically in the months ahead,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s top health officer, said. “However, we are not there yet. It will take time to vaccinate all eligible Californians. During this time, we must not let our guard down.”
Health experts say those who have received the vaccine should still employ coronavirus-related safety practices, including social distancing, wearing masks and staying at home when practical.
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