California is facing a statewide struggle to meet the demands of the COVID-19 vaccine, as scarcity undermines local distribution efforts, according to reports.
Several counties, including Los Angeles County, have seen vaccine shipments shrink in recent weeks. Some people had their first scene appointments canceled as a result of supply problems, according to the LA Times.
“We recognize that vaccine delivery will be our fee-limiting step,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s secretary of health and human services, on Tuesday. “We always expect more, we continue to work with the federal government to push for more, but this will be one of our biggest challenges.”
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California officials say the state is underway with its distribution program, although they acknowledge that the state is experiencing a shortage.
“California will achieve 4 million vaccinations on Friday, the maximum of any state in more than 1 million,” Darrel Ng, Senior Communications Advisor to the Vaccine Task Force COVID-19, told Fox News on behalf of Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration. “The state administered 1 million vaccines just last week, more than the 40 states each administered. According to data from Bloomberg’s tracker (to compare apples to apples), California is administering 50% more vaccines daily than the next nearest state (Texas), and Texas is only 33% smaller than California. “
“The number one factor in counties that do not have vaccines is the lack of vaccines in the country,” added Ng. “This is not a criticism of any party, but the reality of each county, state and country.”
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California initially followed a plan outlined by federal health experts, prioritizing nursing home residents and healthcare professionals, but has seen itself lagging behind in states like South Dakota, West Virginia, Texas and Florida.
California has administered about 3.45 million injections – the highest amount of any state in the country – but in recent weeks it has been ranked among the lowest per capita in vaccinating its population.
California has about 39.5 million residents. Not all of the state’s population is eligible for the vaccine, but even this smaller population saw only about 7% of the first doses administered and only 1.6% of the second doses, according to The New York Times.
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San Diego County had to limit itself to 10,000 doses a day, which is equivalent to half of what the county is capable of, the Times of San Diego reported.
“The problem we have now is that our efforts have far outpaced the supply of vaccines,” said San Diego supervisor Nathan Fletcher. “If these supplies increase, we will be in place and ready and we can increase quickly.”
Fletcher said that by mid-February, the county would be able to administer 30,000 doses a day, but that the supply does not exist.
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Fresno County was particularly hard hit, with health officials saying they had to “pause” first-dose clinics because of a lack of vaccines in the county, according to ABC 30.
“In the next two weeks, we will have second-dose clinics on the fair grounds and also at the Sierra Pacific Ortho site,” said Fresno County Public Health Division manager Joe Prado. “There are not many additional first dose clinics that we can do at this point.”
Second doses will be administered via drive-thrus whenever possible, mainly by vaccinating frontline workers.
Prado said the county could not open more clinics until it received more supplies.
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In stable numbers, while California will have administered 4 million vaccines by Friday, the state has the largest population of any state. Texas said on Thursday that it administered nearly 3 million vaccines, which is 75% of California’s production with approximately 66% of the population.
Using the Bloomberg tracker, as Ng noted, California is lagging behind in per capita distribution: California administered 10.08 vaccinations per 100, while New York administered 10.92 per 100, Virginia administered 11.12 per 100, New Mexico 14, 05 per 100 and North Dakota 15.38 per 100, according to the data. Texas is only slightly behind California, with 9.68 per 100.
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“The supply crisis creates this huge unmet demand, which creates chaos,” said Andrew Noymer, associate professor of public health at UC Irvine. “There are only layers and layers of logistical problems that we have today that we did not have in previous vaccination campaigns.”
Newsom did not face much, if any, high-profile criticism for the deployment, possibly because the California deployment plan is handled at the county level. However, Newsom has been the subject of a recall effort after consistent criticism for its handling of the pandemic in its state.
The recall petition reached 1.4 million signatures, with only 1.5 million needed to initiate the recall and trigger an election.