For the first time, Los Angeles County officials on Wednesday announced a deadline for students under 18 to be vaccinated. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that while all teachers and school staff in the region are currently eligible for vaccines, on May 1, all students aged 16 and over will be qualified. See the penultimate point below Ferrer’s presentation.
Covid-19’s numbers fell dramatically in the past month and, amid a push from California Governor Gavin Newsom, the state reopened at a rapid pace. The cinemas removed the padlocks from their doors this week. Likewise, dinner in restaurants is now allowed. Theme parks may reopen on April 1, although Disneyland will wait until April 30. Unfortunately, in the midst of this progress, Ferrer announced on Wednesday that the county had identified the second person under the age of 18 to succumb to Covid-19.
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LAUSD’s current plan is for early childhood education centers and primary schools to reopen in
Mid April. High schools and high schools will start operating at the end of April. These dates
come with the warning that “they may change based on changes in virus levels in the coming weeks,” according to the district. Students over 16 are only the last group added to the list of eligible or soon to be.
Governor Gavin Newsom this week expanded the vaccine’s eligibility to people aged 16 to 65 who have an underlying health condition. The group is made up of 4.4 million Californians.
Ferrer said on Wednesday that eligibility has also been expanded to include custodian and janitorial staff, public transport staff and airport ground staff, along with social workers who handle cases of violence and abuse and foster parents who provide emergency housing for young people.
That was after about 1.7 million essential workers, including teachers, became eligible for vaccines last week. Health workers and residents aged 65 and over were already eligible. Of this cohort over 65 years old in LA, Ferrer estimates that only 61% received the first dose.
The millions of Californians newly qualified for the vaccine may have difficulty finding the doses. LA County received its highest vaccine allocation to date last week, according to Ferrer. He administered 312,000 doses. But the region expects to administer only about 260,000 doses this week due to supply problems. This, like millions of other residents, is eligible.
But in early April, officials expect an increase in doses, as more J&J vaccine finally arrives.
Outbreaks at schools have been relatively rare in LA County. There have been 86 outbreaks affiliated with primary and secondary schools since September 1, 2020. Two of the outbreaks had more than 12 cases and 66 of the outbreaks had less than 6 cases. School outbreaks increased during the increase and steadily decreased from January, after school outbreaks peaked at 15 for 2 consecutive weeks. As of the beginning of February, there were no new outbreaks in schools.
While health officials in California’s largest county today announced new eligibility for students over the age of 16, the state’s “Updated Vaccination Guidelines”, which have not been updated in over a month, make no mention of vaccines in age school. The deadline awaits a response to a consultation sent to the California Department of Public Health on the matter.
Last week, Newsom and Ferrer referred to a Green Level in the state’s color-coded reopening plan. Dubbed the Safer Economy Project, the plan assesses the prevalence of Covid-19 in a “Wide” or Purple to “Minimum” or Yellow region. So far, there are no details on what a Green Level looks like or whether it would include healthy teenagers.
But the CDC, which state and local health directors – including Ferrer, who referred to his guidelines in another context on Wednesday – usually follow, offers referrals for teenagers in their “Provisional Recommendation” issued in January. It says: “Phase 2 includes all other people aged ≥16 years old who are not yet recommended for vaccination in Phases 1a, 1b or 1c. Currently, according to the age and recommended conditions of use (1), any authorized COVID-19 vaccine can be used. ACIP is closely monitoring clinical trials in children and adolescents and will consider recommendations for use when a Covid-19 vaccine is authorized for use in people aged <16 years. "