- On Monday, the California Department of Consumer Affairs issued an exemption that allows dentists in California to administer coronavirus vaccines authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- California administered only about 450,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines out of nearly 1.9 million doses distributed to the state.
- The state is realizing a scarcity of resources amid this wave of cases. Southern California has an alarming availability of 0% of the ICU’s capacity, according to the California Department of Public Health.
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Dentists in California can now administer vaccines, under a new order in the state.
On Monday, the California Department of Consumer Affairs issued an exemption that allows California dentists to administer vaccines authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
So far, California Governor Gavin Newsom has said that the state has vaccinated only 1% of its 40 million inhabitants, according to the Associated Press. On Monday, California administered only about 450,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines out of nearly 1.9 million doses distributed to the state, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read More: 5 public health experts told us what the U.S. needs to do now to get COVID-19 under control
This order comes at a time when California sees an overwhelming number of coronavirus cases. In the last week, cases increased by 12.3%, according to the COVID Screening Project – on Monday alone, more than 29,000 new cases of the virus were registered. As of Tuesday, the state had recorded nearly 2.5 million cases of COVID-19 and at least 26,880 deaths from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.
California is seeing a shortage of resources amid this increase in cases. Southern California has an alarming availability of 0% of the ICU’s capacity, and the Bay Area registers 7.9% of the ICU’s capacity available on Monday, according to the public health department.
Meanwhile, state hospitals are setting up campaign tents outside to make room for more patients, and some patients have been treated in a hospital gift shop. In Los Angeles County, which has seen a 905% increase in the weekly average of cases since November 1, hospitals are struggling to provide enough oxygen for their patients.