California will expand the COVID-19 vaccine group to people at high medical risk, disability

From mid-March, eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine will be extended to people with severe health problems and disabilities who would pose a high risk of death if they contract the virus, an expansion that coincides with the drastic improvement. of the distribution of the vaccine in California. rates from last month.

State public health officials on Friday issued a bulletin to health care providers and doctors announcing that as of March 15, they have the discretion to vaccinate people aged 16 to 64 “who are considered to be at the highest risk. high morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. ”The eligibility list includes these conditions: cancer, chronic kidney and lung disease, Down syndrome, organ transplantation, pregnancy, sickle cell disease, heart disease without hypertension, severe obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The bulletin also provides broad discretion to vaccinate people with disabilities that a physician believes would make them highly susceptible to life-threatening illness or death from COVID-19, or limit their ability to seek medical or other care. vital to their well-being and survival “. Officials added that these criteria are “subject to change.”

“I’m excited,” said Aaron Carruthers, executive director of the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, which cares for people with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, severe epilepsy, autism and other conditions that need lifelong support. “I appreciate the governor’s and administration’s deep commitment to people with developmental disabilities and other disabilities who present them at a high risk of having a poor COVID outcome.”

This expansion marks a move toward phase 1C of state vaccination levels and marks a sharp rise in state confidence in vaccinating its residents. A month ago, California was the 41st position in the country in administering vaccines by hand, a complicated distribution and monitoring product that caused uneven access, exacerbated by the early hesitation of health care workers to receive the shots.

Golden State now ranks 19th, and federally managed vaccine production continues to accelerate. Blue Shield and Kaiser are ready to take on and streamline state allocation protocols to ensure imminent expansion and equitable distribution of access to vaccines to groups such as food workers and farmers and people at risk. for underlying health.

As of Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that California has administered 67% of the nearly 8 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna it has received and that more than 10% of the state’s 40 million residents have received at least a first dose. . So far, this has mainly involved health workers, residents over the age of 65, and some emergency workers and teachers. But only a quarter of them have been completely vaccinated.

By Friday, about 13 million Californians were eligible to receive the vaccine. This will increase to 19 million on March 15.

The state made an average of 11,320 new cases of COVID-19 a day over the past week, a quarter of the rate from the same point in January, which led to an increase in the increase in winter virus the state. This improvement includes a 50% drop in the last two weeks, according to data collected by this news organization.

Coronavirus deaths continue to occur at a rate of about 414 a day over the past week, a drop of almost 25% from two weeks ago, but still three times higher than any point before the winter wave.

Dr. George Rutherford, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UC San Francisco, said the decline in rates and deaths can be explained in part by vaccines.

“We’ve already seen it, two and three weeks ago,” said Rutherford, who noted a drop in deaths in nursing homes that were ravaged by the virus at the start of the pandemic.

He also attributed the decline to declining transmissions in densely populated areas (mostly Latin neighborhoods that have assumed a disproportionate load of viruses) because residents acquire, at great cost, natural immunity while public health officials struggle to drive. -the most vaccines.

Vaccine production is gradually increasing and by the end of this month, FDA emergency approval is expected for a Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which is praised for requiring just one shot and not needing frozen storage as treatments. of two doses Pfizer and Modern.

But the demands of a population of more than 300 million people continue to diminish supply. The CDC reported Friday morning that just over 69 million doses of vaccine had been distributed in the country and that about 36 million Americans had received at least a first dose. Only a third of them have been completely vaccinated.

Still, Rutherford says the country’s track record of progress in virus control continues to improve. Mass vaccination sites such as those set up at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, Oakland Coliseum and Moscone Center in San Francisco, and mobile vaccination units and national pharmacy chains entering the vaccine network, are consider indicators of the devastation of COVID -19 has crested.

In a Thursday appearance on the “Today” program, Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden COVID-19, said broad access to vaccines could arrive as early as mid-spring.

“I imagine we’ll arrive in April, that would be what I would call, to put it better, ‘open season,'” Fauci said. “That is, virtually everyone and anyone in any category could start getting vaccinated.” .

But because of the supply, Fauci said, it is unlikely to see the practical impact of this broader eligibility (the herd’s immunity needed to safely lift movement and shelter restrictions) to medium of late summer.