California on Monday launched a new COVID-19 vaccine delivery system operated by insurance giant Blue Shield of California, a change that state officials say will speed up dose delivery and unify a county-by-county patchwork. eligibility standards.
But for Bay Area residents, it will take a few more weeks to notice any difference.
A stark change is that the state’s My Turn online system, which can be accessed at myturn.ca.gov, will serve as the central website for all Californians to register for vaccination appointments. Individual counties and health care providers will still play an essential role in immunizing people at their mobile vaccination sites and clinics, but the central reservation system, it is hoped, will make obtaining consultations more efficient and straightforward.
In addition, when the state decides to expand eligibility for vaccination to the next category of population in which doses are due, all counties in the state will have to follow suit at the same time. So far, county health officials have made their own recommendations on when to provide vaccines for the next eligible category of people.
As of Monday, those eligible to receive a vaccine in California include health workers, long-term residents, people aged 65 and over, and employees working in agriculture and food, education and day care and emergency services. From March 15, people between 16 and 64 years of age and with serious health problems, such as cancer or heart disease, and people with developmental disabilities or other high-risk disabilities will also be eligible for vaccination.
Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology at the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, said the Blue Shield, which has been a staple product throughout California for decades, should provide a “big boost to the distribution of these vaccines “.
Along with the overall increase in vaccine production and the launch of Johnson & Johnson’s single dose vaccine, Swartzberg said Californians should notice a huge improvement in vaccine distribution across the state – although it probably takes a month or more to take fully hold on.
“I think we saw the worst of it, clearly. But it will get much better, ”he said. “I hope that by April, our state will have the logistics and supply system working perfectly, and it will be much easier for people to get a vaccine.”
Across the bay area, health departments said on Monday that they were still waiting for details on how the acquisition of Blue Shield would alter their vaccination processes. The Bay Area is in the third wave of the Blue Shield transition, which is expected to take shape from mid to late March. San Mateo County, for example, hopes to make the complete transition from its scheduling reservation system to the state’s MyTurn website on March 15, a spokesman said.
Since all of the Bay Area counties in the past few days and weeks have aligned with the state’s eligibility criteria, the transition is not expected to immediately affect anyone who can schedule a vaccination appointment.
“We welcome increased state leadership in launching the vaccine to ensure speed and equity,” said Louise Rogers, head of San Mateo County Health, in a statement. “The county has an opportunity to meet with Blue Shield representatives this week to learn more from them.”
Blue Shield’s acquisition of the state’s vaccine distribution comes as California says goodbye to a deadly winter wave of COVID-19. California averages about a quarter of the number of new cases it saw in early February – approximately 5,050 a day last week, compared with almost 19,000. Meanwhile, the rate of positive COVID-19 tests last week fell to 2.3% on Monday, close to the lowest point of the coronavirus pandemic in the state.
In another promising sign, the state health department is expected to announce on Tuesday that seven more counties are falling from the state’s most restrictive purple reopening layer to the red layer.
On Monday, more than 8.8 million doses of the vaccine were administered in California, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning that 15.5% of Californians received at least one injection and 6, 6% received the complete regime. California is expected to administer 3 million injections a week this month and up to 4 million under the leadership of Blue Shield next month – both against 1 million a week in January.
Over the years, Blue Shield of California has donated more than $ 1 million to Governor Gavin Newsom’s independent campaigns and committees. Before awarding the insurance giant a non-bidding contract of up to $ 15 million to lead the state’s vaccine distribution, Newsom appointed at least 16 Blue Shield employees to its test task force COVID-19, including the company’s CEO Paul Markovich to co-lead the team.
After being criticized for a vaccine implantation system plagued by confusion and delays, Newsom announced in late January that Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente were selected to help run the state’s vaccination campaign.
Although Blue Shield appears to be taking the reins, Kaiser and the state on February 23 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) saying that the health giant will serve “as a consultant to the Blue Shield” and will continue to vaccinate eligible residents – both Kaiser members and nonmembers – at mass vaccination sites at the Moscone Center in San Francisco and Cal Poly Pomona in Southern California. The MOU says that Kaiser “may consider” establishing other mass vaccination sites in the future.
The MOU also says that Kaiser will set up smaller vaccination clinics in vulnerable communities to reach residents disproportionately affected by the virus.
Team writer Emily DeRuy contributed to this story.