Coronavirus updates: California’s COVID vaccine allocation boosted 16% for next week
California’s coronavirus rates continue to decline from the peak of a major winter surge, and there is also good news on the COVID-19 vaccine front.
The state next week will get about 77,000 more doses than it did this week or last week, about a 16% increase in supply allocated by the federal government. President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday announced a nationwide supply boost from 8.6 million to a minimum of 10 million doses per week, which is also about a 16% increase.
Allocation data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show California will receive about 1,000 fewer Pfizer doses next week compared to this week, but Moderna doses will increase by 78,000, from 244,000 to 322,000.
As California’s mass vaccination campaign remains off to a sluggish start, marred by data reporting issues, health officials at the state and local level have expressed concern about inadequate supply.
The state is catching up, though. CDPH reports that statewide, more than 2.58 million doses have been administered out of about 4.7 million that have been shipped to local health departments and hospital systems.
That’s 55% of received doses administered, which remains far less than ideal but is an increase from about two weeks ago, when the state had given fewer than 40% of its shots.
State epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said last week during a vaccine advisory committee meeting that California was getting about 400,000 to 500,000 doses per week, a pace that would take through June for the full vaccination of those ages 65 and older. The Moderna boost increases next week’s total to about 563,000, up from the 486,000 it was allocated both this week and last week.
To date, more than 3.16 million Californians have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 38,224 have died.
The state in the past week has recorded nearly 3,800 deaths, an average of 542 a day. CDPH on Wednesday reported 697 new deaths, the third highest daily total of the pandemic.
All other COVID-19 metrics — new cases, test positivity rate, hospitalizations and the number of patients in intensive care unit beds — have all been declining consistently for at least the past two weeks, CDPH data show. Two-week test positivity on Wednesday fell to 8.8%, down from a peak earlier this month of 14%. Before that, California hadn’t been below 9% since Dec. 8.
Health officials continue to urge that residents follow mask and social distancing protocols, and avoid gatherings, to ensure transmission rates stay low — especially as new genetic variants of COVID-19 emerge globally that scientists believe may be more infectious.
Six-county Sacramento area surpasses 1,700 deaths
The six counties that make up the bulk of the 13-county Greater Sacramento region — Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties — have reported more than 130,000 combined positive cases and at least 1,722 virus deaths.
Sacramento County has confirmed 84,298 cases since the onset of the pandemic, and at least 1,208 of those residents have died of COVID-19. The county reported 367 new cases and 14 deaths on Wednesday, following 401 cases and nine deaths Tuesday.
By date of death occurrence, December was by far Sacramento County’s deadliest month of the pandemic. County health officials have confirmed 374 deaths for the month — an average of more than 12 a day. The death toll more than doubled that of August, the previous worst month, in which 181 county residents died of the virus.
Local health officials now say at least 154 county residents died of the virus between Jan. 1 and Jan. 20. That figure is still preliminary as death confirmations can take weeks to be made official.
Virus hospitalizations in Sacramento County have trended mostly a decline while the ICU patient total remains elevated but may also be showing early signs of dropping. The overall patient total rose from 371 Tuesday to 382 in Wednesday’s state data update.
The countywide ICU total, which hit a record-high 130 early last week, was 112 on Tuesday and Wednesday. But the state now reports only 54, down from 68 on Monday and Tuesday.
Placer County health officials have confirmed a total of 18,034 infections and 188 deaths. The county on Tuesday reported 359 cases for the four-day stretch including the weekend, with no new fatalities. Placer last reported two fatalities Friday.
State data showed 113 hospitalized in Placer, up slightly from 109 on Tuesday. Placer had 24 in ICUs as of Wednesday’s update, down one from Tuesday, with the number of available ICU beds dipping from eight to six.
Yolo County has reported a total of 11,186 cases and 146 deaths, adding 90 new cases and confirming eight fatalities Tuesday. Prior to that, it had been six days since Yolo reported a COVID-19 death.
State data showed Yolo with 27 virus patients Wednesday, a decrease by one from Tuesday. The ICU patient total has fallen from a record-high 18 in Sunday’s update to 10 by Wednesday, according to CDPH, but zero ICU beds are available.
El Dorado County has reported 8,245 positive test results and 66 deaths. The county reported 61 new cases and four new deaths Tuesday, following 182 cases and three fatalities confirmed Monday for the three-day reporting period including the weekend.
Virus deaths are surging in El Dorado. Between Jan. 20 and this Tuesday, the county has reported 24 deaths, which is 36% of its death toll for the nearly 11-month health crisis.
Following just five deaths from March through late November, at least 61 El Dorado residents have died of COVID-19 since Thanksgiving.
State health officials reported 21 virus patients in El Dorado hospitals as of Wednesday, up from 19 on Tuesday but down from 23 on Monday. The ICU total fell from nine on Monday and Tuesday to five, with five additional ICU beds still available.
In Sutter County, at least 8,129 people have contracted the virus and 84 have died. Sutter on Tuesday reported 63 new cases and one new confirmed fatality.
Sutter reported 27 residents hospitalized with COVID-19 including nine in intensive care as of Tuesday
Neighboring Yuba County has reported 5,227 infections and 30 dead. The county added 52 new cases Tuesday
Yuba said Tuesday it had 32 residents hospitalized with the virus with five in the ICU, up from 23 and four last Friday.
Not all patients are hospitalized in-county, but the only hospital serving the Yuba-Sutter bicounty region — Adventist-Rideout in Marysville — had 54 hospitalized virus patients as of Wednesday, same as Tuesday and up 10 since last Friday. The ICU total was 12 patients, same as last Friday, but available ICU beds increased from two to four.
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 10:33 AM.
