On Monday, Contra Costa County expanded its vaccine eligibility to individuals aged 50 and over, regardless of the underlying health conditions.
The move comes about a week after Solano County made the same decision to fill open commitments that were unused.
According to the expanded eligibility criteria, residents who live or work in Contra Costa or Solano counties and are 50 years of age or older can now make an appointment for vaccination.
Elsewhere in the Bay Area, eligibility is restricted to residents aged 65 and over, those aged 16-64 with disabilities and certain underlying health conditions and employees in certain sectors, including health, education and transportation.
Unlike other parts of the bay area, Contra Costa County experienced an influx of vaccines instead of a shortage last week. In addition to the weekly allocation of vaccines from the state, Contra Costa County received 14,000 doses from the federal government last week to its community health centers, opening thousands of additional consultations.
“We are looking forward to the next few months, when we will be able to eliminate the vaccine’s eligibility, when anyone and everyone is eligible,” Diane Burgis, Chairman of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, said in a press release. “More and more doses of vaccine are arriving in the county each week and we expect this trend to continue.”
On Monday, more than 336,000 residents of Contra Costa County received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 96% of those aged 75 or older. Monday’s announcement is expected to nearly double that number, as more than 235,000 residents of Contra Costa County are between 50-64 years old.
“We are making good progress in vaccinating already qualified groups and now we will continue to prioritize the most vulnerable groups in our community more,” said county health officer Dr. Chris Farnitano in a statement.
On March 15, California began allowing 16- to 64-year-olds with disabilities and certain underlying health conditions to schedule vaccination appointments, although some Bay Area County health systems do not have the vaccine supply to open any appointments. for this group.
Santa Clara County, for example, has not offered an appointment for the first dose through its health care system for more than three weeks. For the second time in recent weeks, the county last week notified nearly 9,000 Kaiser patients that their scheduled vaccine appointments at county vaccination sites would be canceled due to a shortage of supplies.
A Santa Clara County spokesman said on Monday that the allocation of vaccines for this week was “relatively stable” and “fell short of the number needed to cover all second doses and schedule any new first doses”.
“We know that this situation has created challenges and frustrations for patients whose consultations have been transferred, and the municipality has done everything it can to avoid this situation,” wrote the spokesperson by email.
Check back for updates.
Vaccine commitments against Costa
Qualified residents can request a vaccination appointment through Contra Costa County by filling out an online form here or by calling 833-829-2626.