California will give 40% of vaccine doses to vulnerable areas

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) – California will begin reserving 40% of all vaccine doses for the state’s most vulnerable neighborhoods in an effort to inoculate people at higher risk for coronavirus and get the economy out of the state. state opens faster.

Two government administration officials, Gavin Newsom, shared details on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

Doses will be distributed among 400 zip codes with approximately 8 million people eligible to receive shots. Many of the neighborhoods are concentrated in Los Angeles County and Central Valley. Areas are considered more vulnerable based on metrics such as household income, educational level, housing status, and access to transportation.

Once two million doses of vaccine are given in these neighborhoods, the state will make it easier for counties to reopen levels dictated by business and school reopening.

Right now, a county can go from the most restrictive purple level to the lower red level based on several metrics, including having 7 or fewer new cases of COVID per 100,000 people a day over a period of several weeks. This metric will change to 10 new cases or less. At the red level, companies such as restaurants and gyms can open up to limited capacity indoor services.

Also at the red level, schools wishing to access new state funding must provide face-to-face learning to students in the transition kindergarten through 6th grade and at least one grade each in high school and baccalaureate.

Approximately 1.6 million doses of vaccine have already been administered to people in these 400 zip codes, and the state will reach 2 million in the next week or two, officials said.

Once the state distributes 4 million doses in these neighborhoods, it will review metrics to get into the even less restrictive orange and yellow levels.

Newsom has named the capital as the state’s “Polar Star.” However, community health clinics focused on caring for low-income, vulnerable Californians say they have not received enough doses.

The changes mark a new round of turns in California’s vaccination and reopening plans. People aged 65 and over, farm workers, educators and emergency service workers are also eligible to be shot.

There are already more counties moving to the red level as case loads, hospitalizations and deaths decrease. The test positive rate of 2.2% state average for 7 days is minimal.

Officials are making it easier for levels to reopen, arguing that the likelihood of widespread transmission that could overwhelm hospitals will decrease as more people are vaccinated. This is particularly true, as the most vulnerable populations who are most likely to suffer serious illness receive the shots.

While race and ethnicity are not explicit factors in designating vaccines, the 400 vulnerable zip codes largely overlap in neighborhoods with a higher population of blacks, Latinos, and Asians and Pacific Islanders, according to officials.

Los Angeles County could move to the next phase of reopening with fewer restrictions as early as next week, although any real lifting of coronavirus-related limitations would not occur immediately, county officials said Wednesday.

Most counties in the San Francisco Bay Area have advanced to the next phase, which allows restaurants and movie theaters to open indoors with 25% capacity and gyms with 10% capacity.