Feds Press California To Vaccinate Everyone Over 65

CALIFORNIA — To jump-start the pace of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, the Trump Administration on Tuesday placed pressure on the states to immediately widen the pool of those eligible to be vaccinated to those 65 and older.

That change could be seen in California as soon as Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's health secretary said in a Tuesday afternoon coronavirus meeting.

"Today there was an early morning conversation between the federal government and states about further loosening some of those guidelines around who should be vaccinated..." he said. "Those communications have already begun and will go throughout the day so we can evaluate the new federal guidance, determine how it's going to impact what we do here in California, and — with haste, without delay — getting that update guidance out."

Currently, the top priority has been to vaccinate frontline health care workers, but a slower pace in administering the two-dose vaccines has been a topic of concern in the Golden State.

The new guidance from the federal government came with a change in how vaccine doses may be divvied up among states. In two weeks, vaccines will be distributed to states based on the number of residents over 65, and by how quickly the vaccine is given and reported by the states, National Public Radio reported.

"We're telling states today that they should open vaccinations to all of their most vulnerable people. That is the most effective way to save lives now," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced at a press briefing Tuesday morning.

The news comes one day after Gov. Gavin Newsom said he planned to widen the pool of those eligible to administer vaccinations in California, looping in Pharmacists and dentists.

The state reported on Monday that California had received more than 2.4 million vaccines to date, with some 783,000 vaccines administered as of Sunday. On Tuesday, Ghaly said some 99,000 Californians had received both shots.

Ghaly said that the state is working to reach its goal of vaccinating an additional 1 million Californians by week's end.

And as Ghaly announced that California had crossed an "important and sad milestone" of 30,000 deaths in California, he also noted that the rate of new hospitalizations had fallen.

Over the last 14 days, coronavirus hospitalizations have increased by 5.5 percent. But Ghaly said the state hadn't seen this low of a rate since late October. The state also saw a 10.6 increase in intensive care units over the last two weeks.

The rate of new coronavirus hospital admissions also fell from 3,500 per day to 2,500 per day over the last two days, Ghaly said.

“To see a reduction in our hospital numbers in terms of the rate of rise is a very encouraging sign," he said. "But we’re not out of the woods.”

Previously, health officials predicted that a holiday-fueled surge would be seen by mid-January. But as the middle of the month draws near, Ghaly said Southern California and other impacted parts of the state have not yet seen a significant jump in cases from New Year's Eve; however, it may be too soon to tell.

"We knew that people didn't come in to get tested as frequently as they would have pre-holidays...but we do still expect there to be a bump up in the middle of the month toward the second half of the month," Ghaly said. "It's encouraging to see not as significant an increase...but I wouldn't declare victory in any way."

California's top health official also addressed the new variant of COVID-19 that has been identified in Southern California. While just 38 cases have been detected locally, he said "absolutely we're worried that if it takes off [it will] become more widespread."

But Ghaly assured that the vaccine's effectiveness would not be hampered by the new strain. And while there is hope in the vaccine, Ghaly said, Californians should continue to stay home, wear a mask and practice social distancing.

“If you give Covid an inch, it will take a mile,” he said.

Ghaly also announced that the four regions under California's Regional Stay-At-Home Order were set to remain under the mandate as ICU capacity projections did not meet the 15 percent threshold for the upcoming weeks.

The state reported 36,487 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, with a seven-day average of 42,136 cases. The state's positivity rate was 13.5 percent over the last 14 days.

Ghaly said the numbers were "much better than what we’ve been witnessing, which is a pretty radical increase on that test positivity.”

"[We're] pleased to see less impact at the moment and still very prepared to see what we were worried about which was the second half of January," Ghaly said.