Although the supply of California’s COVID-19 vaccine remains restricted for the time being, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Friday that he believes the state will be able to make vaccines available to everyone in early May.
“We are predicting within 5 and a half weeks that we will be able to eliminate all levels, so to speak, and make vaccines available to everyone across the spectrum, because the supply will increase exponentially,” said Newsom during a briefing in the Bay Area.
The governor did not give details about the schedule, but it fits previous federal guidelines on expected availability and access to the vaccine.
President Biden said last week that restrictions on who could make a COVID-19 vaccine appointment would be raised across the country on May 1, as the supply must be sufficient to meet the demand.
The promise of increased supplies is music to the ears of public health officials in California and across the country – as providers are rushing to get as many doses of weapons as possible as soon as possible and stop any potential new wave of coronavirus.
Even now, California is already beginning to see remarkable progress in its vaccine launch.
The last six days saw the six highest totals in a single day in terms of shots fired across the state, according to data compiled by The Times. During that period alone, about 2.35 million doses were administered in California – including 344,489 on Thursday and 387,015 on Friday.
So far, 23.5% of Californians have received at least one dose of the vaccine – a proportion that ranks 33rd among all U.S. states and territories, according to the data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In comparison, 31.4% of the population of New Mexico had at least one chance, as well as 29.6% of the inhabitants of Alaska and 29% of those living in South Dakota.
California performs better compared to some more populous states. As of Friday, 24.3% of residents had been shot in Pennsylvania, 24.2% in New York, 22.2% in Florida and 20.9% in Texas, CDC data show.
“We don’t have enough vaccines. I could double the capacity today if you gave me these vaccines, ”Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said friday during an interview with Dr. Howard Koh, professor at the Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan.
LA County officials expressed optimism that vaccine supplies will grow in the coming weeks, especially with shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which were interrupted due to production problems, they start to arrive regularly.
“We look forward to receiving much larger amounts of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by the end of this month,” said Dr. Paul Simon, director of science for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, on Friday.
The county expects to receive somewhere around 280,000 doses next week – with only about 6,000 of them being Johnson & Johnson, he added during a meeting.
Almost half of all Californians – including adults aged 65 and over, health professionals, educators, people incarcerated or living in shelters for the homeless, essential workers such as those in the food industry or emergency services, public transport workers and caretakers and residents of 16 and the elderly who have underlying disabilities or health problems – are already eligible for the vaccine. The list is not exhaustive, as the state continues to offer specifications for those who qualify in the various categories.