California vaccine eligibility expires March 15, but MyTurn doesn’t allow you to sign up

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – As of Monday, March 15, vaccine eligibility is expanding massively in California to include another 4.4 million people. This is because the next phase of COVID-19 vaccine distribution allows people with serious underlying health conditions to be able to get a shot.

This applies to you if you are between 16 and 64 years old and you have one of the following conditions:

• Cancer
• Chronic kidney disease, stage 4 or higher
• Chronic lung disease
• Down syndrome
• Immunocompromised condition from organ transplantation
• Task
• Sickle disease
• Heart disease (heart failure, coronary heart disease or cardiomyopathy; excludes hypertension)
• Severe obesity
• Type 2 diabetes
• Other developmental or high-risk disabilities that put an individual at particularly high risk

The last bullet point makes things a little blurry. In essence, anyone whose health condition is considered “at risk” by a healthcare provider could qualify.

Some call it a loophole, but San Francisco’s director of health, Dr. Grant Colfax, said it was intentional.

“If your healthcare provider says you are eligible for a vaccine, we will mostly comply with this order,” Colfax said. “The idea is that we want reduced access to vaccine barriers. We do not want to create too much bureaucracy, too many forms “.

But the bureaucracy is already getting in the way. As of Friday afternoon, high-risk people have not yet been able to make appointments for Monday or any subsequent day on the MyTurn website. “It will be your turn soon, but you are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine at this time,” the website read.

I asked the California Department of Public Health when these meetings will be available online. A spokesman replied: “This availability will be available until the 15th”, but did not give a specific date or time.

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Meetings can be hard to find until the vaccine supply really starts to grow.

“We don’t expect dramatic growth in the next few weeks,” said Mike Wasserman, who serves on the California Vaccine Advisory Committee. “But I am optimistic from what we hear from the Biden administration. I certainly hope we will see an increase in April.”

President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he will lead states to make everyone, regardless of age, occupation or level of risk, eligible for the vaccine by May 1.