When officials last summer designed the four-tiered system, from yellow to purple, which California now uses to decide if people can dine indoors, go to the movies or gather with friends, they didn’t include a green level – a recognition of the return to normalcy after the pandemic was far away. Now, Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration is preparing to add one.
“The probability of reaching that green level is probably earlier than some of us thought when we looked at summer and fall,” California Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Thursday.
State officials rely on a complicated formula, including the spread of the virus, to determine what activities are restricted in each county.
But a green name will not mean “go” for all things. Ghaly said such a label would still mean wearing masks and staying physically away. He declined in an interview to provide more details on the restrictions that would be maintained or to provide a vaccination threshold that the state hopes to meet to allow such approval.
Earlier on Thursday, the state director of public health, Dr. Tomas Aragón, predicted that California could gain immunity from the herd when about 75 percent of the population was vaccinated, although that could change as the virus moves.
The fact that officials are optimistic enough to publicly discuss a green level puts California in a dramatically different place than it was a few weeks ago, during the worst wave in the state. Now, cases, hospitalizations and deaths are declining and vaccinations are on the rise.
On Thursday, Ghaly and other officials, including Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, the general surgeon, publicly received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at locations in Los Angeles and Oakland to promote its safety and effectiveness. The short J&J vaccine recently received emergency approval from the federal government.
The supply of a single-injection vaccine in California is limited for the time being, but officials are eager to build trust in it, especially in black and Latin American communities. The state recently said that counties can open faster with the vaccination of more people in vulnerable neighborhoods.
CA experts consider the Biden vaccine eligible from May 1 and whether it is realistic
Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require both photos, while J&J requires a single dose. Although public health officials say it offers strong immunity, some people have hesitated, worrying that it is not as protective as others.
“The thing that came to mind when the vaccine came into my arm was to hug my mother again. And I think that’s something without too many Californians since this pandemic started,” Burke Harris said. , which is black.
Cornelia Stevens was among dozens of residents lined up at the Los Angeles site. As a member of the California National Guard, she received an e-mail Wednesday night informing her that her military branch is eligible for the vaccine.
“I waited my turn. I didn’t think my time would come so soon,” said 50-year-old Stevens.
Under the new reopening plan, counties can move more easily from the most restrictive purple level to the lower red level when 2 million doses of the vaccine reach residents of California’s most disadvantaged zip codes. Once 4 million doses are given in these neighborhoods, it will be easier to switch to orange.
When officials set up the system in August, Newsom said it was too early to look ahead at a green level that signaled “a return to things.” The Democratic governor said on Wednesday that officials have been working on a green level for several months “waiting for this bright light at the end of this tunnel.”
Nearly half of the state’s 58 counties have come out of the strictest restrictions, and major counties such as Los Angeles and Orange are expected to do so soon, allowing for limited indoor dining and the reopening of cinemas and gyms. LA County, the most populous state in the state with 10 million inhabitants, said it anticipates qualifying for the red level between Monday and Wednesday next week.
Also Thursday, the state announced new rules for bars and breweries, which have been largely closed if they do not serve food. Starting Saturday, non-food breweries and distilleries can open outside in purple and red levels. The state guide says that both owners and wineries must have reservations and limit their stay to 90 minutes, and the service must end by 20:00 Bars that do not serve food can not be opened up to the level orange.
The state has reason to be cautiously optimistic, said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. But she worries that the state’s plan to speed up reopening is “too aggressive.”
It is estimated that 4.4 million people with certain significant medical conditions, high risk or disability will be eligible for the vaccine on Monday. They will not be asked to provide documentation, but they will be asked to sign a self-attestation that they meet the criteria, the state public health department announced on Thursday.
People who work or live in congregated places, such as detention centers, prisons and shelters for the homeless, will also be newly eligible, as will public transport workers and airport workers for commercial airlines, also announced the state.
This added eligibility could create logjams if supply remains limited, Bibbins-Domingo said. At the same time, California needs to focus on vaccinating disadvantaged neighborhoods to reduce the likelihood of future outbreaks, she said.
“I worry that the real aspect ahead and hard to drive to go to the opening with thresholds that are a little easier to meet, honestly, it will not play exactly as we would all like,” she said.
Copyright © 2021 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.