COVID vaccine rollout: Latest numbers as pace quickens in California and Sacramento
California is weeks into a mass vaccination campaign to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, administering tens of thousands of shots a day.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that California had administered 1,633,875 of the nearly 4.4 million doses allocated by the federal government through Wednesday. That’s 4,135 doses for every 100,000 residents, which continues to rank in the bottom 10 among the 50 states and D.C.
California’s administered dose total increased by 108,059 from Wednesday’s CDC update.
The California Department of Public Health on its own vaccine tracker reported Thursday providers had administered 1,626,542 out of about 3.99 million that have been distributed to hospital systems and local health departments.
That is a one-day increase of 100,726 administered doses; the total for doses shipped to health departments and hospital systems increased by about 250,000 since the previous day’s update. CDPH classifies about 256,000 doses as “ordered” but not yet shipped as of Thursday.
CDPH on Wednesday lifted a hold on a batch of 330,000 Moderna doses, after the state told providers to pause administering those shots after receiving fewer than 10 reports of possible allergic reactions. State epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan in a statement said local, state and federal health officials as well as Moderna investigated “and found no scientific basis to continue the pause,” and counties and health systems may immediately resume giving the shots.
Pan during a vaccine advisory committee meeting Wednesday pointed out it would take until June at the current pace to vaccinate Californians ages 65 and older. The state last week bumped that age cohort higher in the priority timeline, based at least in part on false promises about an apparently non-existent federal surplus of doses.
CDPH classifies the state’s 58 counties into six vaccination regions. Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties are included in Region 4. CDPH reported that 75,011 vaccine doses were administered in Region 4 through Sunday.
At least about 1.34 million Californians have received one dose and about 293,000 have received both doses, according to federal data. Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines are two-dose regimens, taken three weeks and four weeks apart, respectively.
Here is the latest on vaccine distribution in the Sacramento area.
County health offices, clinics
These are direct allotments to local health departments, according to each county. CDPH has not provided its own county-by-county breakdown of allocations.
Counties in which multi-county hospital systems, such as Kaiser Permanente or Sutter Health, have little or no presence may be receiving larger allocations relative to their populations, which are then distributed down to hospital systems that only operate in a single county.
For instance, El Dorado County has dedicated significant portions of its earliest allocations to Barton Memorial Hospital in South Lake Tahoe and Marshall Medical Center in Placerville. Those are the county’s only two general acute care hospitals, and neither are under the umbrella of a multi-county health system that would receive its own, separate allocation.
Sacramento
▪ Phase: 1A (front-line health workers; long-term care residents)
▪ Received: 16,350 doses, as of Jan. 14.
▪ Administered: 15,115 doses (92% of received).
Sacramento County said in its most recent update, Jan. 14, that it has only been directly allocated 975 doses for this week.
“Sacramento County will not be able to accommodate all requests for vaccination between the continued need in Phase 1A frontline workers, as well as the addition of those who are 65 years old and older,” the county said.
El Dorado
▪ Phase: 1A and 1B (adults 65 and older; essential workers in some sectors).
▪ Received: 14,325 doses, as of Tuesday.
▪ Administered: Not reported.
Placer
▪ Phase: 1A; 1B in “extremely limited supply.”
▪ Received: 14,525 first doses and 8,750 second doses, as of Jan. 8.
▪ Administered: Not reported.
Placer County confirmed on its website that it received 2,900 doses from the paused Moderna batch. None of these had been administered but had been intended to be given this week.
Prior to CDPH reversing the pause, Placer wrote in an update that it “worked quickly with regional partners to secure other doses to fill the gap” for appointments that had been scheduled, including one clinic switching from Pfizer to Moderna doses this week.
Yolo
▪ Phase: 1A
▪ Received: ”Around 7,100” total doses as of this week, county spokeswoman Jenny Tan said Thursday.
▪ Administered: 5,284 first doses and 1,053 second doses for 6,337 total (89% of received), as of Tuesday.
Tan said in a video briefing Thursday that Yolo had received 1,700 doses from the Moderna lot, which will go into use soon. Like in Placer, the doses were pulled from distribution before any were administered prior to the pause, officials said.
Hospital systems
UC Davis Health says on its website it has vaccinated more than 11,000 of its employees and students. It started vaccinations for adults ages 75 and older last week.
On its website Tuesday morning, UC Davis Health said it would begin making appointments for those ages 65 to 74 “once everyone who wants a vaccine” in the 75-and-over group has received one.
Kaiser Permanente said in an update to its patient website last Thursday it had “limited” vaccine appointments available for health workers; long-term care residents and staff; and those age 65 and older.
But in a Monday update to the Kaiser website, the 65-or-older category was no longer listed as eligible for appointments.
Sutter Health has started scheduling appointments for patients age 75 or older.
Like Kaiser, Sutter Health recently removed language from its website referencing plans to schedule vaccine appointments for those ages 65 to 74. Instead, the site says Sutter Health is “prioritizing patients who are highest risk according to government guidance.”
Dignity Health said it started “pilot vaccination clinics” for Mercy Medical Group patients ages 75 and over last week and is planning additional clinics this week, “and will expand access to patients who are 65 and older with high-risk medical conditions.”
Mercy Medical Group will be proactively contacting patients who meet these criteria, according to a Tuesday update.
This story was originally published January 21, 2021 at 7:40 AM.
