CA Vaccine Eligibility Pool Expands But Supply Challenges Remain

CALIFORNIA — About 4.4 million Californians became eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine this week. But a major lack of supplies continues to be a major sticking point..

Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom predicted that the state would be getting about 320,000 of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccines every week for three weeks, but a manufacturing lag plagued that projection as well.

California has only received about 341,000 doses of the single-shot vaccine, Newsom told reporters at an Alameda press conference on Tuesday, where he reiterated the state's supply woes.

"We were anticipating a lot more than that by now," he said, according to multiple reports.

Some 1.7 million doses were expected to arrive at respective clinics within the state this week, including 44,000 J&J vaccines, a spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health told Patch.

"The federal government has not provided projections on Johnson & Johnson beyond this week," the spokesperson said under condition of anonymity.

Here's what we know.

When will California's supply improve?

Newsom said on Tuesday that in about six weeks "we're going to be in a completely different place."

The governor has made similar projections before, previously stating that early April would see things turned around. But he has also repeatedly said that manufactured supply in the U.S. is limited and ultimately, it's the federal government that has jurisdiction over supply.

President Joe Biden has said that production constraints will no longer be an issue by May. The president further suggested that the states allow every American over the age of 18 to get a vaccine by May 1.

"We share the president's commitment to ensuring all adults who want a vaccine can get one," Newsom said last week.

Meanwhile, counties across California have been working with the state's constantly evolving guidelines and trying to make do without enough doses to accommodate everyone who wants one.

"We have a lot of capacity to vaccinate but we can't put it into play because we don't have enough vaccine," Dr. Ori Tziveili, acting health officer for Contra Costa County told Patch on Tuesday.

Tziveili has helped lead the county in its goal to prioritize vaccinating its homeless residents ahead of the state's decision to vaccinate those populations on Monday. Alameda and Santa Clara counties also took initiative on this effort ahead of the state.

Nonetheless, the number of those inoculated in the state is rising — albeit slowly — and cases have remained relatively low. This week, the state's 7-day positivity rate dipped below 2 percent for the first time since last year, but it rose back to 2 percent on Wednesday.

"In the last 48 hours we administered nearly one million vaccines — a new record," Newsom said on Wednesday.

Who just became eligible to receive a vaccine?

Transit workers, those who work or live in high-risk congregate residential settings, including homeless populations and those 15 to 64 with disabilities and certain health conditions became eligible to receive vaccines on Monday.

What's more, the state is not requiring eligible Californians to provide proof of their condition, relying on the honor system, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The state identified the following disabilities and health conditions as those eligible:

• Cancer, current with weakened immune system.
• Chronic kidney disease, stage 4 or above.
• Chronic pulmonary disease, oxygen dependent.
• Down syndrome.
• Solid organ transplant leading to a weakened immune system.
• Pregnancy.
• Sickle cell disease.
• Heart conditions such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies (but not hypertension).
• Severe obesity (a body mass index equal to or greater than 40 kg/m2).
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus with hemoglobin A1c level greater than 7.5 percent.

An emphasis on equity and education

Aside from the newly eligible, the Golden State is also earmarking 40 percent of its supply for those in low-income, vulnerable ZIP Codes, and 10 percent for education workers.

Last week, the state hit a key equity vaccine metric set by Gov. Gavin Newsom and public health officials. After inoculating 2 million people in these areas, the state relaxed requirements to exit strict reopening tiers. This allowed some 23 counties to move from the purple to red tier since Sunday.

READ MORE: How To Get The Coronavirus Vaccine In California