Who will get the COVID-19 vaccine first in Solano County?
State officials say the vaccine will be distributed base on priority.
(Stock image/Graphic by Solano News Update)
After nearly a year of living through the global health pandemic triggered by the novel coronavirus COVID-19, scientists are pointing to a possible light at the end of the tunnel.
Last week, the United Kingdom became the first country in the world to approve a new two-dose cocktail developed by Pfizer and Biontech that showed a 95 percent effective rate in preventing an infection of COVID-19 in test subjects.
While no vaccine has yet received the same level of approval from health regulators in the United States, that cocktail and two others are yielding promising signs — enough so that California health officials say one or more drugs could be approved for the prevention of COVID-19 by the end of the year.
When that happens, state regulators say they are planning to offer the drug “as quickly as possible” and will administer it in phases so that the most-needed groups of individuals receive it.
“Initial vaccine supply will be very limited,” health regulators wrote on a vaccine readiness webpage. “California is making sure that these supplies are distributed and administered equitably.”
Initial doses of the vaccine will be administered in three waves based on priority:
Vaccine Priority Stages
First priority individuals are those who work or reside in…:
…acute care facilities.
…psychiatric facilities.
…correctional facility hospitals.
…assisted living facilities, skilled nursing homes and similar settings, especially those that cater to elderly or medically-vulnerable individuals.
…paramedics, emergency medical technicians and other medical first responders.
…dialysis centers.
Second priority individuals are those who work as:
…intermediate care facility workers (including patients who live there).
…home health care and in-home support service workers (including residents).
…community health workers.
…public health field staff employees.
…primary care clinic workers at federally qualified health centers.
…primary care clinic workers at correctional facilities.
…primary care clinic workers at rural health centers.
…primary care clinic workers at public urgent care centers.
Third priority individuals are those who work as…
…dental and/or oral health staff at associated clinics.
…staff at specialized clinics.
…laboratory workers.
…pharmacy staff who are not otherwise covered as first- or second-priority workers.
In addition to the priority phases, the vaccine will be distributed based on a county’s listing in one of five regions. Solano County is listed in Region II, which will allow it and 15 other Northern California counties to immediately serve over 80,000 first-priority, front-line health care workers and long-term care residents. (Napa County and Contra Costa County are also listed in Region II; neighboring Yolo County is listed with Sacramento County in Region IV.)
Officials say 327,000 of the Pfizer-developed COVID-19 vaccine are expected to be shipped to California’s state health office by the middle of December, and “these initial doses will be provided to healthcare workers and long-term care residents” based on priority level once the vaccine receives federal and state regulatory approvals.
Before a vaccine is distributed…
California has established a Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, which will subject any vaccine approved by the Federal Drug Administration to a secondary layer of scrutiny before it is administered in the state. That workgroup, state officials say, is intended to build public confidence in the effectiveness and safety of any approved vaccine.
The workgroup will look at three things:
Making sure any approved COVID-19 vaccine meets state and federal safety requirements.
Ensuring a system is in place to make sure the vaccine is distributed effectively and administered fairly.
Reaching out to community health partners, including local and county public health officials, to ensure their input is included in any decision-making process.
“California will be transparent, careful and equitable in its vaccine distribution,” state health officials promised. “The state will provide a COVID-19 vaccine to everyone in California who wants it.”
After a vaccine is approved…
Those who opt to receive a COVID-19 vaccine through a state-administered health program will not be directly charged for it where the vaccine is obtained and distributed using taxpayer dollars. When a patient has insurance, their carrier will be billed; those who do not have insurance won’t be asked to cover any fee.
Two of the three COVID-19 cocktails being considered require two consecutive shots in order for the vaccine to be fully effective. These shots are spread out across a span of a few weeks, and until the second dose is administered, patients will still have to wear masks, practice social distancing and take other precautions just as they have over the last year, health officials said.
A third COVID-19 cocktail being considered only requires one shot. It is not clear which cocktail will be approved by federal and state regulators. As of Sunday evening, none had been approved for public distribution.
State health officials said none of the three COVID-19 vaccinations being considered cause people to actually get the virus — though some may experience mild (but not dangerous) symptoms, just as they would after an influenza shot. Officials say the vaccine is expected to be effective in people who have already been afflicted with COVID-19.
In the meantime…
State and county health officials continue to urge people to practice social distancing, wear a mask and avoid assembling with people outside of their immediate household (including immediately family members who may live outside of one’s home).
Solano County continues to impose limitations and residents based on the state’s “purple tier” listing in its color-coded restriction system. The purple tier restrictions require most businesses to offer outdoor service only, except retail businesses which are allowed to operate indoor services at a reduced capacity.
Though Solano County is covered by an additional state-imposed overnight stay-at-home order, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office says it won’t enforce it. Local law enforcement agencies in Vacaville and Vallejo are also not enforcing it, though they encourage residents to abide by those restrictions, which prohibit non-essential travel and gatherings between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. every day. Police in Fairfield and Benicia say they will enforce the curfew, but only in extreme cases involving violations of the public health order.
As of Sunday evening, Solano County was not covered by a supplemental state-imposed stay-at-home order that requires even tougher pandemic response restrictions. That order triggers new restrictions when the aggregate amount of available hospital intensive care unit beds falls below 15 percent in the San Francisco Bay Area region, which includes Solano County and around a dozen nearby counties.
The amount of available hospital ICU beds was listed as 24.1 percent as of Sunday evening at 9 p.m., according to state health figures. In Solano County, the rate of available hospital ICU beds was 35 percent, according to county health data, though the actual number may be higher or lower because the data hasn’t been updated since Friday.
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