COVID vaccine rollout: Low supply, dose reporting errors hinder 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 Friday that California had administered 1,803,679 of the more than 4.7 million doses allocated by the federal government through Thursday. That’s 4,565 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 169,804 from Thursday’s CDC update.
The California Department of Public Health on its own vaccine tracker reported Friday providers had administered 1,795,714 out of about 3.99 million that have been distributed to hospital systems and local health departments.
That is an increase from Thursday of 169,172 doses, by far the most California has added in a single day. Between Wednesday and Thursday, the total grew by 100,726 administered doses.
It was not clear what portion of the growth is from data reporting improvements, as opposed to shots actually going into arms on Thursday.
At least about 1.48 million Californians have received one dose and about 322,000 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.
CDPH has classified the state’s 58 counties into six vaccination regions. Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties are included in Region 4.
The Sacramento Bee recently learned that regional figures previously posted by CDPH were deeply misleading, because the number of doses administered by hospital systems were based on where each system is headquartered — not by the location of each hospital.
Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, the director of CDPH, said there is a “big push” underway to improve data systems, including an improved dashboard including more specific information. That newer dashboard was not ready as of Friday morning.
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 yet 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.
Most county health offices are splitting their direct allocations between their own county-run clinics, non-chain hospitals and other partners, including some Safeway pharmacies.
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).
Dr. Olivia Kasirye, the county’s health officer, told The Bee that this week’s original allocation of just 975 doses was a mistake; the state ultimately cleared the way for another 5,700 doses this week.
Sacramento County is slated to get about 13,000 doses next week.
El Dorado
▪ Phase: 1A and 1B (adults 65 and older; essential workers in some sectors).
▪ Received: 16,700 doses, as of Thursday.
▪ Administered: Not reported.
County officials haven’t reported a total for doses administered, but El Dorado said in a Facebook post Thursday afternoon that all 16,700 doses are “spoken for” — given from the health office to clinics, Safeway pharmacies, hospitals and other partners.
El Dorado says it will receive another 2,375 doses next week.
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.
Yolo
▪ 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.
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 week that 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.
Kaiser on Thursday evening updated its website again, advising patients ages 65 through 74 that “supplies are extremely low” and that the hospital network is “starting with those 75 and older.”
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 22, 2021 at 10:18 AM.
