California announced Friday that it has administered more than 2 million doses of vaccine to people with vulnerable, low-income zip codes, which could allow counties like San Diego to reopen more quickly.
With the equity metric met, the criteria for a county to move within the levels of the state’s color-coded reopening plan becomes easier to meet. California expects San Diego to meet the new reopening criteria on Tuesday, meaning the county will move from the more restrictive purple level to the red level as soon as Wednesday.
San Diego County is expected to move to the red level on March 16, and the changes will take effect the next day.
What is the California Equitable Vaccine Metric?
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that he would set aside 40 percent of the vaccine for residents of about 400 zip codes that the state considers most vulnerable based on metrics such as household income, access to health care and education levels.
The issue is to link reopening standards to ensure that people most affected by the pandemic are protected from the virus. While race and ethnicity are not explicit factors in designating vaccines, zip codes overlap with neighborhoods with a higher population of black, Latino, and Asian, and Pacific Islander residents, they reported. officials.
California adopted a four-tier system with color codes in August that dictates the amount of activity allowed in each county. New level assignments are announced on Tuesdays.
Previously, counties could move from the most restrictive purple level to the lower red level based on metrics that included the number of new cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people per day over a period of several weeks. The threshold for entering the red level will go from 7 cases per 100,000 residents to 10 cases.
What can reopen in San Diego?
Once San Diego County moves to the red level of the California level reopening plan, restrictions on restaurants, gyms and other businesses and activities will begin to increase.
Many industries have only been operating overseas since last summer, but starting next Wednesday, the indoor operations of San Diego restaurants, fitness museums and more could begin.
If you change the red level, restaurants will be able to offer indoor meals again with 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is less. The same goes for movie theaters. Museums, zoos and aquariums will be able to reopen indoor operations with modifications, including 25% capacity. And the gyms will be able to reopen indoors with 10% capacity.
NBC 7’s Priya Sridhar has the latest on the county’s coronavirus response.
If you change the red level, restaurants will be able to re-offer indoor meals with a capacity of 25% or 100 people, whichever is less. The same goes for movie theaters. Museums, zoos and aquariums will be able to reopen indoor operations with modifications, including 25% capacity. And the gyms will be able to reopen indoors with 10% capacity.
In addition, schools that previously required waivers to reopen face-to-face instruction will no longer need to apply, but modifications will need to be complied with.
Domestic retail trade can increase its capacity from 25% to 50%.
While San Diego may be eligible to move to a less restrictive level, it doesn’t mean it’s done automatically, but a San Diego County spokesman said, “We’re pleased with the direction we’re going and hope to be able to make a move now. next week “.
There are also some reopening modifications that will begin on April 1st. Since San Diego will be at the red level by then, live outdoor events, such as sports games and live music, may have guests up to 20% capacity instead of less than 100 people at the level. purple.
Also from April 1, red-level county amusement parks will be able to have guests up to 15% capacity, even in their indoor facilities, although the indoor dining room would have to remain closed.
This week, the state also announced new rules for bars and breweries, which have been largely shut down if they don’t serve food. As of Saturday, non-food breweries and distilleries can open outside, on both the purple and red levels. The state guide says the patrons of both, as well as the wineries, must book and limit their stay to 90 minutes and that the service must end at eight in the afternoon. Bars that do not serve food cannot be opened until the orange level is reached.
What comes next?
Once the state administers 4 million shots in these neighborhoods, officials say they will update the criteria to move to the next levels of orange and yellow.
“Even though we have reached a milestone today, we still have a lot of work to do to make sure we end this pandemic,” said Tomás Aragón, director of the CDPH and state public health officer. “We all need to do our part by vaccinating ourselves as soon as it’s our turn and continue to wear masks and practice physical distancing to keep our communities safe.”
About half of the state’s 58 counties have come out of the strictest restrictions, allowing for limited indoor food and the reopening of movie theaters and gyms.
Officials across California are wondering how things will be in the country’s most populous state once millions of people get vaccinated and move on to removing restrictions on meetings and businesses that have disrupted life for a year.
When officials last summer designed the four-tier system, from yellow to purple, which California now uses to decide if people can dine indoors, go to the movies, or meet friends, they didn’t include no green level, a recognition that would return to normal after the pandemic was far away. Now, Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration is preparing to add one.
“The likelihood of hitting that green level is probably sooner than some of us thought when we looked at summer and fall,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s health secretary, said Thursday.
State officials rely on a complicated formula, including the spread of viruses, to determine which activities are restricted in each county.
But a green designation doesn’t mean “going” to all things. Ghaly said such a label would still mean wearing masks and staying away physically. In an interview, he declined to offer further details on what restrictions would be maintained or provide a vaccination threshold that the state hopes to meet to allow such approval.
Earlier Thursday, state director of public health Dr. Tomas Aragón, predicted that California could achieve herd immunity when about 75% of the population is vaccinated, although this could change as the virus mutates.