SACRAMENTO, California (AP) – Governors have largely applauded President Joe Biden’s statement that all adults should be eligible for coronavirus vaccination by May 1, but the goal will require a change for states that have been methodical in the way they shoot shots.
California’s top health official said the nation’s most populous state will have to work harder in the coming weeks to ensure the most vulnerable people receive vaccines before competing with the general public. Oregon planned that essential workers and young adults with disabilities could be eligible before May 1, not for the wider population, and said Friday it would not change that schedule without firmer supply commitments.
Meanwhile, Alaska already allows all adults to sign up for a shot. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said before Biden spoke Thursday night that broad eligibility could come next month, while Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday that it would happen in mid-April. In Virginia, state vaccine coordinator Dr. Danny Avula said the state could achieve Biden’s goal sooner.
The governors of Wisconsin, Louisiana, North Carolina, Kansas and Vermont said they are ready to open the floodgates on May 1st.
But several governors warned that it should include a dramatic increase in vaccine supply.
“For widespread and complete vaccination to work, the federal government will have to come up with increased doses and infrastructure,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement.
Jeffrey Zients, White House coronavirus coordinator, told reporters Friday that May 1 is an “absolute deadline” and that the nation will have enough supply between Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to fire all adults by the end of this month. An average of 2.2 million doses a day are now being administered.
As supply increases, the goal seems reasonable, said Jennifer Nuzzo, a scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a professor of epidemiology. But he warned it could create challenges around equity and set unrealistic expectations among Americans who will be vaccinated immediately in May.
Some states may not have the infrastructure to quickly increase doses for such a large set.
“It could be a delay for people to receive a vaccine due to operational limitations,” he said.
Supply was a turning point in Oregon. Health officials say they will not change a plan to allow vaccination of the general public from July 1 until they are sure more doses will arrive.
“Until we get more clarity, we need to keep our current deadlines in place. We can’t disappoint people who want a vaccine eagerly,” said Pat Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority. no one in the federal government has given us difficult figures on what to expect and when. “
California Secretary of Health Dr. Mark Ghaly said the state should focus on ensuring that those most at risk for serious illness receive shots before broad eligibility. People with disabilities and certain health conditions join the list Monday and California has no plans to add any more groups before May 1st.
“If I want to see us do something for the next six to seven weeks before May 1, (it is) to make sure we get into the communities that have been most affected,” he said Friday.
The state says it has the capacity to vaccinate 3 million a week, but receives about half of that number of doses. On April 30, the state has set itself the goal of being able to give 4 million weekly doses.
Tim Jin, a 46-year-old Orange County resident with cerebral palsy, said he understands Biden’s desire to bring the country back to normal. But opening vaccines to all adults in May will eliminate people with disabilities, who end up being eligible for the vaccine in California, he said.
“The first thing I thought was how hard it will be for people with disabilities to get the vaccine because they are virtually removing the list of priorities for us,” Jin said.
Kiran Savage-Sangwan, executive director of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network and a member of the state’s vaccine advisory committee, said Biden’s plan should not lower California’s equity goals as long as the state keep its commitments, such as sending more doses to underserved people. areas.
California dedicates at least 40% of its doses to people with approximately 400 low-income zip codes.
“Having more vaccine is absolutely what we want and need, and if we still don’t have enough to meet demand, we still have to prioritize,” he said.
Elsewhere, the governors enthusiastically met Biden’s goal.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said the state will “absolutely increase” to achieve the goal. Approximately 13% of residents are fully vaccinated, according to state data, among the highest rates in the country.
Now, all West Virginia residents 50 years of age or older are eligible for the vaccine. The state’s coronavirus tsar, Dr Clay Marsh, said officials could extend eligibility to everyone before May.
“But we want to maintain our commitment to discipline and make sure we are immunizing people who are more likely to be hospitalized or die first,” he said.
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Associated Press reporters Janie Har in San Francisco; Cuneyt Dil in Charleston, West Virginia; Sara Cline in Portland, Oregon; Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia; Patty Nieberg in Denver and Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington, contributed. Cline and Nieberg are members of the body of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.
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This story has been corrected to show that California wants to have the capacity to vaccinate 4 million people a week before April 30th and not April 1st.