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California will begin distributing 40% of all vaccine doses to the state’s most vulnerable neighborhoods to inoculate those most at risk for the coronavirus in the state’s latest rule overhaul, the state said Thursday.
Priority people in the new system live in postal codes that fall in the lower quartile of the State’s Healthy Places Index, which measures socio-economic opportunities. Areas are considered the most vulnerable on the basis of parameters such as household income, level of education and access to health care. While race and ethnicity are not explicit factors, zip codes overlap strongly with neighborhoods inhabited by higher populations of Black, Latino, Asian, and Pacific Islander residents.
In these areas, there are around 8 million people eligible for vaccines. Many neighborhoods are in Los Angeles County and the Central Valley, which have had one of the highest infection rates.
Ten Bay Area zip codes are on the list, including three in Alameda County, one in Contra Costa, two in San Francisco and four in Solano County.
Alameda County
Fruitvale, Oakland: 94601
East Oakland: 94621
East Oakland: 94603
Against the coast
Richmond: 94801
San Francisco
Net: 94102
Treasure Island: 94130
Solano
Vallejo: 94590
Fairfield: 94535
Landing of birds: 94512
Elmira: 95625
In a press conference Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the move was not only the right thing to do, but it was essential to further open up the state’s economy.
“It’s a race against the variants. It is a race against exhaustion. It’s a race to safely and thoughtfully open our economy, knowing that it has to be an economy that doesn’t leave people behind, that is truly inclusive, ”Newsom said. He also encouraged people to wear two masks.
The announcement is the latest change in a scalable approach to vaccinate nearly 40 million California residents, adding to lingering confusion among people clamoring for vaccines. The move to facilitate the reopening also comes days after several Republican-led states lifted restrictions on COVID-19, with the United States now having three vaccines available.
Representatives of black and Latino legislative caucuses, as well as social justice and equity groups applauded the reopening to immunization equity measures. Latinos make up about half of the cases and deaths in California, even though they make up 39% of the population.
Setting aside 40% of the vaccine supply essentially means hard-hit postcodes will administer double the doses of what is currently available. Data shows that of the vaccines administered, only about 17% were in vulnerable communities that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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