The expected cost of administering COVID-19 vaccines in California has grown almost four times over two months ago, to $ 1.3 billion, a price made public on Thursday, as the state has also reversed radical changes in its plan to centralize dose delivery under a program run by the California Blue Shield, the Times found.
In a letter sent by the California Government Operations Agency to the counties this week, the state said it would return some decision-making powers to local public health officials, requiring the Blue Shield to consult with a county before making recommendations on how many doses to take. vaccine the jurisdiction should receive.
The letter, which was obtained by The Times, also describes another major change in the state vaccine network. The state previously planned to restrict a county’s ability to supply vaccines to local clinics and health care providers, leaving decisions about who can administer the doses to Blue Shield and state officials. According to the changes memorized in a letter from Gabriel Ravel, general counsel for the Government Operations Agency, a county could use its discretion – subject to state approval – to distribute portions of its vaccine quota to other suppliers.
“The state is trying to take a positive step towards addressing county concerns,” said Jeff Smith, Santa Clara County executive.
At a legislative hearing on Thursday, the Newsom government said it would cost $ 151 million to create and manage the state’s vaccine network, most of which to support information technology. In addition to a $ 15 million contract with Blue Shield, the state signed a two-month contract with management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. for $ 13 million to help the insurer and the state with the delivery system. of the vaccine.
The Newsom government estimates that, between 2020 and 2022, the state will spend more than $ 15 billion in its response to COVID-19, most of which will be reimbursed by the federal government. That’s $ 2 billion more than the governor estimated it would take just two months ago, with much of the increase due to the state’s new vaccine distribution system, according to the Finance Department. The estimates released during Thursday’s hearing are part of the budget negotiations between the governor and the legislature.
Assembly Budget President Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) said the Newsom administration has agreed to provide more details on COVID-19 spending in the revised budget released in May.
“We also asked them to justify not just California vaccine expenditures, but all of our COVID-19 expenditures,” said Ting.
Newsom announced in January that the state would bring the Blue Shield to overhaul the state’s vaccine delivery system. With the renewed system, Blue Shield uses an algorithm to make recommendations to the state on where to send doses and how many are needed. Previously, the state decided how much vaccine each county would receive, but the counties controlled where doses were sent locally.
Counties are at a standstill for weeks due to the changes, with most refusing to sign a contract with Blue Shield. Officials in some counties, including Los Angeles, have asked the state to give up the changes, expressing concerns about outsourced oversight. Only Kern County signed the contract with Blue Shield.
Last week, the state offered to allow the remaining counties to sign a separate agreement with the Government Operations Agency instead of the Blue Shield, with negotiations for further changes to the terms leading up to Ravel’s Tuesday letter.
On Friday, the California Department of Public Health announced that eight counties, including Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego, have signed the agreement with the state.
Smith said Santa Clara County continues to oppose the state system administered by Blue Shield.
“Each county has different needs and different levels of investment in its delivery system,” he said. “One size doesn’t fit all and we won’t sign a [memorandum of understanding] which causes a deterioration of our vaccine delivery system or health delivery system. “
Government Operations Secretary Yolanda Richardson told lawmakers on Thursday that the memorandum of understanding between state and local health departments is still being formalized “so that we can work hand in hand to get the job done with the minimum of possible interruption. “
Despite the blockade with counties, Richardson said vaccine providers are signing up to be part of the state network every day.
“In April and May, these providers will offer vaccines at thousands of locations across the state,” she said.
Richardson said the scarcity of supplies has hampered the state’s ability to offer the vaccine to 25 million Californians over the age of 16 who want protection. To date, more than 12 million doses have been administered in the state, with 4.5 million residents fully vaccinated.
“Like all states in the country, we have received less vaccine than we need, but in April we expect that to change,” said Richardson. “Based on the meetings with the federal government, we expect a strong increase in vaccines from the first week of April.”
The Newsom administration plans to spend $ 40 million on a media and outreach campaign aimed at addressing the vaccine’s hesitation to encourage residents to get vaccinated.
Vaccine hesitation is expected to become more and more of an issue as supply increases in the coming weeks, and may grow and become the most critical barrier to mass inoculation. During Thursday’s legislative hearing that reviewed state spending on COVID-19, the handful of speakers who called during public comments protested the vaccines and falsely claimed that vaccines are dangerous.
A woman who appeared in person at the hearing routinely shouted and interrupted lawmakers, at one point shouting, “You are going to kill the children.” These explosions have become routine within the state capitol whenever vaccines are discussed.
Richardson said the state hopes to be able to vaccinate all adults who want an injection by the end of June, after President Biden said the United States is working to produce enough doses for each adult by the end of May.
“We will be ready to put these vaccines in the gun,” said Richardson. “We have built a state vaccine network with Blue Shield that will be able to administer at least 4 million doses of the vaccine per week. In the past seven days alone in California, we have administered more than 2 million doses. “