California is opening the COVID-19 vaccine to all adults, but the time to schedule an appointment remains in flux.
Residents at least 50 years old can receive vaccines from April 1, and all Californians aged 16 and over will be eligible from April 15.
Commitments
The California Department of Public Health said on Thursday that residents can go to the doctor’s office to start scheduling vaccines, as long as consultations are on the day or after the day they become eligible, April 1 or 15. .
Depending on eligibility, residents may book an appointment through the state My Turn scheduling website on April 1, April 15 or later.
Eventually, vaccines should be available at pharmacies, community clinics and government-run centers.
Dr. Nancy Gin, regional medical director for quality and clinical analysis at Kaiser Permanente, said the network is also unable to “schedule appointments before these eligibility dates”.
“We encourage all those eligible to be vaccinated as soon as possible,” said Gin. “Until the majority of the community is vaccinated, everyone should continue to maintain healthy behaviors, including wearing a mask, washing their hands frequently and avoiding crowds, even after vaccination, to help ensure that we are not spreading the virus.”
Equity
State officials said they are not changing what they have long characterized as the guiding principle for vaccine implementation in California: equality.
Starting earlier this month, the state started allocating 40% of their COVID-19 vaccines available to residents in the most disadvantaged areas – those in the lowest quartile of a socio-economic measurement tool called California Healthy Places Index.
That distribution will continue, officials said.
Increasing supply of vaccines
Earlier this month, the state expanded vaccine eligibility for nearly 5 million Californians with disabilities and underlying health problems. But for weeks, state and local authorities warned that supplies would remain stable until late March or early April, when vaccine distribution was expected to increase significantly. Until then, access to the vaccine remained restricted in several parts of the state.
But officials say the supply is growing.
“Based on current estimates,” said state officials, “California expects to receive approximately 2.5 million first and second doses per week in the first half of April, and more than 3 million doses in the second half of April.”
California currently receives about 1.8 million doses a week. The state has the capacity to administer more than 3 million vaccines per week and is building the capacity to administer 4 million vaccines per week by the end of April, officials said.
“Based on current estimates,” said state officials, “California expects to receive approximately 2.5 million first and second doses per week in the first half of April, and more than 3 million doses in the second half of April.”