Governor Gavin Newsom said he would not skip the line for the coronavirus vaccine, as some other lawmakers have done.
“I will wait until my turn,” said the California governor, 53.
“My humble opinion is that I don’t think it suits people,” he continued, “and I’m happy to wait for my turn.”
Newsom faced criticism over a series of recent events, including for violating its own strict restrictions on the coronavirus, when it attended a closed dinner last year. The governor is acting cautiously after a recall effort gathered 1 million of the 1.5 million signatures needed to sign by mid-March, which would trigger an election mid-year.
In the midst of a slower-than-expected release of the vaccine in California and other states, Newsom loosened guidelines on who could receive the vaccine. Vaccine prioritization in California now extends to community health professionals, specialist clinics, laboratory professionals, dental clinics and pharmacy teams.
The state also told authorities that if they had an overdose after all those eligible had received a vaccine, they could move on to Level 1, the next phase of distribution, which has not officially gone into effect.
This group includes those working in education, health, emergency services, food and agriculture and those over 75 years old.
Newsom said this week that the expanded rules are to prevent any vaccine from going to waste.
“We want to see 100% of what is received immediately administered in people’s arms, and that is a challenge,” he said during a news conference, according to the Los Angeles Times. “It is a challenge across the country – it is a challenge, in this case, across the rest of the world. But that is not an excuse.”
The coronavirus vaccine was offered to Congressional lawmakers weeks ago for “government continuity”. The Congressional attending physician later informed lawmakers that two staff members from each House and Senate cabinet could receive the vaccine.
Lawmakers are divided over whether to accept their vaccination passes. Some said they were accepting the offer to increase faith in the vaccine, while some said that frontline workers and the elderly should receive it first.
Deputy Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Criticized lawmakers for getting the vaccine before the elderly population.
“That would do [sic] sense if it was age, but unfortunately it is important and shameful “in December.” We are no longer important then [sic] frontline workers, teachers etc. who are making sacrifices every day. That’s why I won’t accept it. The people who need it most should get it. “
Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., Criticized his younger colleagues who received the vaccine, naming deputy Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., who is 31 years old.
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“It is inappropriate for me – who has already contracted the virus / has immunity – to step in front of the elderly / health professionals”, Paul tweeted vaccine supply. “The same goes for AOC or any healthy young person. They should be among the last, not the first.”
Ocasio-Cortez, who broadcast it by getting the jab on Instagram, replied: “Perhaps if the GOP hadn’t spent so much time undermining public faith in science, in masks and in COVID itself, I wouldn’t have to weigh the potential misinformation that [would] happen if leaders ask [people] to get a new vaccine that we weren’t getting! “she tweeted, responding to Paul’s message.
She added: “Our job is to ensure that the vaccine is not politicized the way the masks were politicized.”