Vaccine updates: California expects over 2 million doses next week as supply ramps up
California next week is slated to receive more than 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the state’s biggest allocation yet from the federal government as both the state and the U.S. anticipate a major ramping up of supply in April.
The state’s weekly total will be close to 2.11 million doses, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of those, about 645,000 are designated first doses from Pfizer, 380,000 will be first doses from Moderna and 225,000 are of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine. The remaining 860,000 are second-dose shipments of Pfizer and Moderna’s two-dose vaccines.
The CDC and California Department of Public Health each report that about 10.5 million Californians have received at least one dose of a vaccine for COVID-19.
CDPH reported Wednesday that about 5.49 million Californians are now fully vaccinated and 4.99 million have had one of the two required Pfizer or Moderna jabs.
Those figures mean about 26% of all California residents, and 34% of all adults statewide, are at least partially vaccinated; and about 14% of all Californians, and 18% of its adults, are fully vaccinated.
In all, CDPH reports providers have administered 15,537,745 doses, an increase by 384,900 from Tuesday’s total. Some of that increase may be due to data reporting delays.
Providers have administered 78% of the 19.8 million doses shipped to California, CDPH says.
Next week’s allocated supply includes 1.25 million first doses. If supply were to stay flat at that amount and the state could continue to administer doses about as fast as it receives them, California could have 50% of its adult population at least partially vaccinated within about four weeks, by late April.
The state’s priority groups currently include residents 65 and older; those ages 16 to 64 with health conditions; the homeless; and essential workers in several sectors including health care, emergency services, food and agriculture, education, child care and public transit.
In all, CDPH estimates those groups combine for close to two-thirds of the state’s adult population.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said late last week that vaccine eligibility tiers will be removed within a few weeks, around early May, meaning anyone in California 16 or older would then qualify for a jab. It’s unclear whether any other priority changes are expected between now and that expansion.
Initially, California expected this month to receive about 1.1 million doses of the J&J vaccine, which received emergency use authorization in late February. Instead, the state will end up getting fewer than 700,000 for the month. The drugmaker will miss its monthly nationwide goal due to a manufacturing issue.
Blue Shield, the insurer hired by the state as third-party administrator for the vaccination effort, signaled earlier this month that it expects supply to ramp up to about 2.5 million doses a week before the end of April. The state had been getting about 1.6 million doses a week as of early March, and expects this total to increase significantly as the J&J issue is resolved.
How many are fully, partially vaccinated in Sacramento area?
These are the totals for combined first and second doses, administered through Tuesday, as reported by the state public health department, by recipient county of residence.
Sacramento: 549,360 (35,036 doses per 100,000 residents)
▪ El Dorado: 74,016 (38,331 doses per 100,000)
▪ Placer: 179,693 (44,875 doses per 100,000)
▪ Yolo: 95,922 (42,897 doses per 100,000)
Here is what percentage of each county’s population is fully and partially vaccinated, according to CDPH data.
▪ Sacramento: 12.2% fully vaccinated, 23.3% at least partially vaccinated
▪ El Dorado: 13.9% fully vaccinated, 25.1% at least partially vaccinated
▪ Placer: 16.7% fully vaccinated, 28.7% at least partially vaccinated
▪ Yolo: 15% fully vaccinated, 28.7% at least partially vaccinated
Figures may be undercounts due to data reporting delays.
Northern California VA locations giving vaccines
Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care is now offering COVID-19 vaccination to veterans at 11 clinic locations: Auburn, Chico, Fairfield, Mare Island, Martinez, Mather, McClellan, Oakland, Redding, Yreka and Yuba City.
Enrolled veterans are eligible regardless of age.
Veterans can book appointments online using the My HealtheVet portal; or by calling 800-382-8387 between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. weekdays.
More details are available at northerncalifornia.va.gov.
Sacramento-area health offices, public clinics and pharmacies
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.
CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens offer vaccine appointments at some of their pharmacies across California, including some in Sacramento, El Dorado and Placer counties, as part of a federal retail pharmacy partnership.
Rite Aid announced earlier in March that it was expanding eligibility and prioritizing scheduling for teachers, school staff and child care workers in California. The pharmacy chain on Thursday announced that it was extended this expanded priority for teachers through the rest of March.
CVS said earlier this month it would be offering shots at 119 more of its pharmacies. That’s in addition to the 167 locations already offering the vaccine in California, as well as 600 Target stores nationwide where CVS has a pharmacy.
Sacramento
Sacramento County has expanded eligibility to farm workers, restaurant employees and janitors as it advances within Phase 1B of the rollout.
It is also making a major push to vaccinate homeless who live under local freeways.
The county has opened a drive-thru clinic at Bayside Church in midtown on 19th Street, operated by Safeway. That clinic is offering the J&J single-dose vaccine this Wednesday and Thursday, by appointment only.
Sacramento County continues to offer drive-thru vaccine clinics at McClellan Park and Natomas High School; and walk-thru clinics at California Northstate University in Elk Grove and at Sacramento State.
The Cal Expo site is being transitioned to a new administrator, so first-dose appointment bookings have been paused there while second doses continue. Doses that would normally have been given there are being transferred to other clinics.
All clinics require appointments in advance. Scheduling and booking information can be found at dhs.saccounty.net.
Sacramento also has CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens stores participating in the federal partnership program, and the county is also partnered with 11 Safeway pharmacies.
The McClellan Park, Sacramento State and Northstate clinics offer the Pfizer vaccine, meaning a three-week wait between doses. Cal Expo and Safeway pharmacies offer Moderna, a four-week wait.
El Dorado
El Dorado runs clinics for eligible groups at its public health offices in Placerville and South Lake Tahoe. The county on Thursday announced dates for the South Lake Tahoe clinic: it will give shots every Monday, Thursday and Friday now through the end of April, with the exception of Monday, April 19. Appointments are available through CalVax, at calvax.org.
The county also offers clinics for El Dorado residents ages 65 and older in the parking structure at Red Hawk Casino in Placerville on Thursdays, also available through CalVax. It will run each Thursday through at least April 22.
Walgreens in Cameron Park and the CVS store on Palmer Drive in Cameron Park are also now offering Moderna vaccine appointments as part of the federal retail pharmacy partnership.
The county is also partnered with six Safeway stores.
More detailed information on county-run and county-partnered vaccine clinics can be found at edcgov.us/Government/hhsa/edccovid-19-clinics.
Placer
Placer offers most of its county-run clinics at The Grounds, formerly the Placer County Fairgrounds, in Roseville. The countywebsite says all clinics for this week are fully booked.
Appointment links are posted as they become available at placer.ca.gov/vaccineclinics.
The Grounds clinic is open for Placer County residents ages 65 and older, ages 16 through 64 with qualifying medical conditions and essential workers in Phase 1A or 1B who are employed in Placer County.
Placer is also partnered with eight Safeway pharmacies throughout the county.
According to the CVS website, there are stores participating in the federal vaccine partnership in Auburn and Rocklin. There may also be availability at Rite Aid and Walgreens stores; users should check with individual stores for eligibility, the county says.
Appointments can also been made at Remedy RX Pharmacy in Roseville through a local partnership.
Yolo
Yolo County’s vaccination website county-run clinics this week are reserved for agriculture and education workers. “All, if not most” of this week’s 4,000 allocated doses are going toward second-dose clinics, the county says on its website.
More details regarding county-run clinics are available on the county website at yolocounty.org.
Hospital systems
Hospital systems operating in multiple counties receive their own allocations from the state.
Sutter Health announced last week that it is resuming the booking of first-dose appointments in the valley area — its large clinics in Sacramento, Roseville, Modesto, Stockton and Tracy — after it had suspended new appointments for about a month, and is booking appointments “as supply allows.”
Sutter says on its patient website it has administered more than 425,000 doses to date.
Kaiser Permanente is now vaccinating patients in all groups eligible in phases 1A and 1B. Kaiser Permanente says on its website it is offering vaccines to Kaiser members as well as non-members.
In an update last week, Kaiser Permanente said it had administered nearly 950,000 of the 1.2 million doses it has received at Northern California facilities, and has more than 380,000 future appointments scheduled.
UC Davis Health is vaccinating “patients who work in education and childcare, emergency services, and food and agriculture” in line with the state’s Phase 1B guidelines, according to its website, and will offer shots to those with high-risk medical conditions as supply allows.
UC Davis Health is using the state’s My Turn website to schedule vaccination appointments.
Dignity Health’s Mercy Medical Group says it has also begun using My Turn to schedule appointments.
