Two additional variants of the coronavirus have been discovered in the bay area, making California’s commitment to faster and more efficient delivery of vaccines across the state all the more urgent.
The variants, which originated in Brazil and the UK and spread to several countries, were identified in the Bay Area by scientists at Stanford University’s Clinical Virology Laboratory, spokeswoman Lisa Kim confirmed on Sunday. She did not provide information on the location of the infections, but said that they were reported to public health officials on Thursday from samples “collected less than two weeks before notification”.
The spread of coronavirus mutations occurs as California is delivering the vaccine distribution to Oakland-based health insurance Blue Shield, with assistance from Kaiser Permanente, in an effort to accelerate what has been one of slowest vaccination launches in the country.
Plans for faster and more effective vaccine delivery, however, can be frustrated if Kaiser Permanente, the Oakland-based chain of hospitals and health insurance that has nearly a quarter of Californians among its customers, cannot obtain far more vaccine than he was able to acquire.
Kaiser officials say they are hopeful that their supply will grow now that the state has hired Blue Shield and Kaiser to take control in an expected transition in the coming weeks.
“We need more vaccines available in the coming weeks as we expand the prioritization of vaccinations by health professionals to people over 75 years of age and other eligible populations,” said a Kaiser spokesman on Sunday, the day after the CEO Greg Adams told members that Kaiser received “only a fraction of the vaccine needed to vaccinate” his healthcare professionals and members.
“The work that we, Blue Shield and the state are embarking on is aimed directly at vaccinating Californians as quickly as the supply allows,” the spokesman said by email on Sunday. He predicted progress and said that ultimately, success will depend on “increasing the amount of vaccine received in California.”
Asked whether the scarcity of supply will hinder Kaiser’s ability to assist distribution across the state, Darrel Ng of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine task force said on Sunday: “The biggest factor in any entity’s ability to get more vaccine is the general supply of vaccines. California is restricted by the supply provided by the federal government. “
Dr Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, said the shortage can also be worrying, as Kaiser and Blue Shield have responsibilities to their own patients.
“Whenever you have an organization that is not the government, that is not the Department of Public Health, responsible for distribution, you will be prejudiced, whether you know it or not,” said Chin-Hong.
State officials praised Blue Shield and Kaiser as experienced California nonprofits that can help the state cope with the almost unprecedented health crisis and vaccinate its population with the goal of resuming economic normality and reopening schools.
Data released by the state over the weekend show that providers have accelerated the administration of the doses of vaccine they receive from the state. More than 3.4 million shots were fired, the data show. This represents about 72% of the more than 4.7 million doses that the state has distributed to counties and providers. State officials warn that the figures may not reflect the accurate image due to the delay in reporting time.
Tatiana Sanchez is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @TatianaYSanchez