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Contra Costa County expects to offer coronavirus vaccinations this week to all people 16 and older who live or work in the county, as it anticipates an increase in supply from the state and government federal, the county health department said on Sunday.
The move would make Contra Costa County the first in the Bay Area to offer such eligibility for vital shots. In a statement posted on its website Sunday, Contra Costa Health Services said: “The CCHS plans to open eligibility for those 16 or older later this week. The timing of this decision will depend on how quickly the available appointments are filled in the days to come. “
Spokesman Karl Fischer clarified that the decision was not yet final and that health officials later in the week would make the call to expand the pool of eligible people, depending on the expected vaccine supply and the speed with which appointments are made.
The county has thousands of appointments at its community clinics for the week, according to the press release. County supervisor John Gioia told The Chronicle that if they don’t fill up, the county is considering eligibility for 16-year-olds.
“We want to use the vaccine to get it into the guns as quickly as possible, because ultimately we want as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, especially with the spread of variants,” he said, saying reference to the mutations of the coronavirus which are made quickly. emerging and spreading.
The county urged anyone eligible now to make an appointment as soon as possible to avoid the rush to the future. Currently, those eligible for vaccines are those over 50 who live or work in the county, those over 16 who have a high-risk health condition, disability or illness, and certain essential workers. .
If the county proceeds with the step this week, the expansion would precede by about two weeks the same expansion of statewide eligibility guidelines that Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday. The state recommends that counties offer photos to everyone as young as 16 starting April 15 and to those 50 and over starting Thursday this week.
Expanding vaccine eligibility typically results in long delays in getting appointments and limited availability, Contra Costa Health Services has warned. Those who are currently eligible are strongly encouraged to beat the rush by requesting appointments as soon as possible, using the online application form at cchealth.org/coronavirus, or by calling 1-833-829-2626.
Contra Costa County led many counties in vaccinating residents and opened appointments for people 50 and over last week.
Gioia said that in addition to receiving the state’s vaccine supply, the county has benefited from 11 federally qualified health centers focused on underserved populations, such as the West Mass Vaccination Site. County Health Center in San Pablo, which receive allocated vaccines directly from the federal government. Some other counties have said their supplies are so limited and unpredictable that they are concerned that they may be able to meet demand very quickly only from the population aged 50 and over.
Contra Costa County received more than 75,000 doses last week, but does not yet know how many it will receive this week, Fischer said.
As of Sunday, 97% of its population over 75 was vaccinated, according to county data, and a quarter of those over 16. Debbie Toth, president of the nonprofit Choice in Aging in Contra Costa, said almost all of the seniors she serves are vaccinated. , with the exception of a “handful that is afraid of it”.
“I’m not very stressed that the people who need it don’t get it,” Toth said.
Mallory Moench is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @mallorymoench
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