California to expand vaccine eligibility to all adults next month, starting with people over 50
California is doing away with its tiered strategy for releasing COVID-19 vaccines and making shots available to all adults beginning April 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday.
People aged 50 and older will have more access to vaccines even earlier. They’ll be eligible as soon as Thursday, April 1.
The news comes a couple of weeks after President Joe Biden pledged to make all adults eligible for vaccines by May 1, and days after Newsom said the state’s tiers will be gone by early May. Some counties, such as Solano, have already lowered their eligibility requirement to vaccinate those 50 or older.
Today, people who are 65 or older, some essential workers and Californians with certain medical conditions are eligible for the vaccine anywhere in the state.
California expects to get more than 3 million doses per week by the second half of April. The state currently gets about 1.8 million doses per week, Newsom said.
“Just a few weeks, there will be no rules, no limitations as it relates to the availability of getting the vaccines,” Newsom said at a press conference in Orange County.
Newsom also urged Californians to take whichever vaccines that are available, saying that’s what he will do once he becomes eligible to receive the doses next week. Three types of vaccines are currently available: Those from Pfizer and Moderna that require two doses, as well as one from Johnson & Johnson that can be given as a single-shot.
And even as the vaccine rollout ramps up, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly in a statement urged residents to take caution.
“It will take time to vaccinate all eligible Californians,” Ghaly said. “During this time, we must not let our guard down. It is important that we remain vigilant, continue to wear masks and follow public health guidance.”
People can sign up for the vaccine by checking with their local health providers, or registering at myturn.ca.gov.
What about equity?
As California widens who is eligible to receive the vaccine, the state also plans to change how it distributes doses to its counties. Counties will get vaccines based on their population of those 16 and older, rather than of essential workers and those who are 65 and older.
But keeping in line with a plan announced earlier this month, California will still give 40% of its vaccine doses to its most disadvantaged communities, as defined as the bottom quartile of the “Healthy Places Index.” The index is an aggregate of measures on poverty, education, environment and other characteristics of communities.
“We’ll continue to double down on all of those equity frames. We are not running a 90-yard dash on that,” Newsom said. “We truly want to flood those areas.”
Those who live in more disadvantaged areas, as defined by the lower half of the state’s Healthy Places Index, can also get vaccinated now if they come with a family member who’s already eligible, Newsom said.
The vaccine expansion wouldn’t hinder the state’s equity efforts, said Arturo Vargas Bustamante, an associate professor of policy and management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
“The state government is facing a trade-off between the speed of vaccination and trying to be as fair as possible,” Vargas Bustamante said.
Instead, the vaccine expansion could benefit all Californians, according to Vargas Bustamante, because it would allow the community to achieve herd immunity.
But he said it will be vital for the state to continue targeting frontline workers, as well as Latino and Black Californians, “who are experiencing the worst consequences of the pandemic.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 11:07 AM.
