California will provide 40% of vaccine doses to vulnerable areas

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) – California will begin allocating 40% of all vaccine doses to the state’s most vulnerable neighborhoods in an effort to inoculate people at highest risk for coronavirus and open the state’s economy faster .

Two officials from Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration shared the details on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

Doses will be distributed in 400 postcodes, with approximately 8 million people eligible for photos. Many of the neighborhoods are concentrated in Los Angeles County and Central Valley. Areas are considered the most vulnerable based on values ​​such as household income, level of education, housing status and access to transport.

Once 2 million doses of vaccine are administered in those neighborhoods, the state will facilitate the movement of counties by reopening the levels that dictate the reopening of businesses and schools.

At this time, a county can move from the most restrictive purple level to the lower red level based on several values, including having 7 or fewer new cases of COVID per 100,000 people per day over a period of several weeks. That value will change to 10 new cases or less. At the red level, companies such as restaurants and gyms can open up for limited capacity indoor services.

Also, at the red level, schools wishing to access new state funding must provide personal learning to students in the transition kindergarten through 6th grade and at least one class each in high school.

About 1.6 million doses of the vaccine have already been given to people in these 400 zip codes, and the state will reach the level of 2 million in the next week or two, officials said.

Once the state grants 4 million doses in these neighborhoods, it will revise the values ​​to enter the even less restrictive levels of orange and yellow.

Newsom called the state’s capital “North Star.” However, community health clinics focused on serving low-income and vulnerable Californians say they have not received enough doses.

The changes mark a new round of twists in California’s vaccination and reopening plans. People over the age of 65, agricultural workers, educators and emergency workers are also eligible for shooting.

Several counties have already moved to the red level as the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths decrease. The average test positivity rate of 2.2% of the state over 7 days is a record level.

Officials are making the move easier by reopening the levels, arguing that the likelihood of large-scale transmission that could overwhelm hospitals will decrease as more people are vaccinated. This is especially true because the most vulnerable populations that are more likely to become seriously ill receive fires.

While race and ethnicity are not explicit factors in vaccination designation, the 400 vulnerable zip codes overlap strongly with neighborhoods with larger black, Latino and island populations in Asia and the Pacific, officials said.

Los Angeles County could move to the next phase of reopening with fewer restrictions as early as next week, although any effective lifting of coronavirus constraints would not take place immediately, county officials said Wednesday.

Most counties in San Francisco Bay have advanced to the next phase, allowing restaurants and cinemas to open indoors at 25% capacity and gyms to operate at 10% capacity.