California is likely to meet its state goal of delivering at least 2 million doses to underserved areas by Friday, an important milestone that will lower the threshold to allow county officials to enact new business reopenings, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday. 10 March.
Once those 2 million doses are delivered – California was at 1.9 million, Newsom said – a county could move from the state’s most restrictive “purple” layer to the most restrictive second “red” layer if the new daily rate of cases is less than 10 per 100,000 instead of the current 7 per 100,000. Counties under the new case rate benchmark may officially enter the red level 48 hours after the state passes the vaccination target.
For Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, which have had less than 10 daily cases per 100,000 people for two weeks, they could enter the red level as early as Sunday, with the approval of state and local health officials. This would set the stage for the reopening of secondary and elementary schools, as well as many indoor activities, such as dining and going to the cinema – albeit with severely reduced capacity.
In Riverside County, where case rates have dropped to less than 10 cases per 100,000 people this week alone, it would be eligible for the red level probably after new case rates are reported on Tuesday, March 16.
Many other counties across the state are in the same position. Local health jurisdictions – usually counties, but sometimes individual cities – must update their health orders to loosen restrictions.
The rapid change in policy has prompted some county officials to strive to fully understand the significance of the change and how exactly that would affect their reopening plans.
In Orange County, officials were still preparing to start reopening more sectors under the red level after the state’s updated case rate reports on Tuesday, March 16.
Orange County officials – at Wednesday’s press conference to mark the opening of a new mass vaccination site at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove – repeated expectations that a variety of companies would be given the official green light to open on next Wednesday, March 17, under the current bar to fall below 7.0 cases per 100,000. This week marked the first time that Orange County met the standard, reporting 6.0 cases per 100,000.
“So even though the 2 million mark is reached this Friday, or this weekend, the limit for the red level will rise to 10 (new cases per day for every 100,000), but we are already there, so it will not affect us ”Said Dr. Clayton Chau, director of the Orange County Health Agency and county health officer.
Orange County supervisor Lisa Bartlett said that regardless of whether the county’s movement increases or not, the fact that the state has hit its targets earlier is good news for everyone.
The Orange County case count is hovering at the limit of the red level, so moving to that metric “just gives us an extra guarantee that, even with a spike, we won’t have to go back to purple,” she said.
And with the OC’s other two key numbers already meeting even less restrictive metrics, Bartlett said, “There is a very good chance that when Disney opens in late April, we may be at the orange level” – which would allow the theme park to open with 25% capacity instead of 15%.
San Bernardino County would also qualify for the red level, having reported less than 10 cases per 100,000 on two weeks on Tuesday, March 9.
In Riverside County, where case rates have dropped this week to 8.3 per 100,000 people, officials said the county was on its way to move to the red level on Wednesday, March 17, after two full weeks with less than 10 cases per 100,000.
Asked on Wednesday whether indoor meals will be allowed when LA County enters the red level, public health director Barbara Ferrer said discussions were ongoing with county supervisors, restaurant industry leaders and others. The county hopes, however, to issue red-level guidelines for restaurants, theaters and other businesses on Thursday, she said.
The distribution of vaccines in the areas hardest hit by COVID-19 has become a priority in recent weeks, when state and local authorities realized that distribution in these areas was decreasing. The state has pledged to allocate at least 40% of doses to the poorest communities in an effort to inoculate more low-income residents, essential workers and people of color against the coronavirus.
“Expectations in this state need to be raised in terms of really delivering on equity,” Newsom said on Wednesday of a pop-up vaccination site in South Gate, which opened recently after local community leaders asked the state for help.
Local leaders in South Gate, along with Congresswoman Cristina Garcia and the Southeast LA Collaborative, help set up the site in a matter of days, with the help of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The site opened on Friday and by Saturday more than 500 people signed up to receive the vaccines; more than 1,000 people were on a waiting list.
“We are making sure that community members receive the injections,” said Garcia.
One way that organizers have ensured that doses reach members of the local community is to bypass the state’s My Turn website for consultation. The state, Newsom said, is working on a way to designate available times, offering single-use booking codes instead of group booking codes, which can be widely disseminated and abused.
While Newsom highlighted the South Gate website and other efforts to bridge gaps in vaccine disparities, county leaders in Los Angeles and elsewhere were backing down in an effort to install California’s Blue Shield as the state’s general vaccine administrator. .
Specifically, LA county officials said on Tuesday that they fear that the partnership with Blue Shield will create a bureaucratic headache for providers and may actually delay their efforts to deal with equity, focusing too much on performance metrics and possible punishments for not meeting certain goals.
And LA county officials were not alone, as several others opposed the Blue Shield plan, with only one county – Kern – so far agreeing to a contract with the insurance company.
Officials in many counties said they believed they were better suited to manage a vast network of providers, which in LA County totaled more than 400 locations. The authorities are not necessarily comfortable or confident in handing over the reins to a gigantic health insurance company.
Addressing these concerns on Wednesday, Newsom asked for patience, saying that state officials and Blue Shield will take the next month to resolve these details and resolve any concerns.
Newsom did not say, however, whether the state would penalize counties that still refused to sign with Blue Shield or whether the state would allow some counties to be exempt.
“We are making progress,” said Newsom. “We will solve these problems.”
Team writers Ian Wheeler, Alicia Robinson and Jeff Horseman contributed to this report.