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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California on Wednesday made an additional 4 million people eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, stepping up competition among the state’s largest counties as they rush to acquire enough doses to inoculate their populations while the state suffers a further surge of new cases and deaths.
State public health officials followed federal guidelines by announcing that people 65 and older could now be vaccinated, joining the next already eligible level of emergency workers, teachers, childcare providers and food and agricultural workers.
But the decision has puzzled some county officials who say they don’t even have enough doses right now to vaccinate those who were already eligible. In Santa Clara County, where nearly 2 million people live, public health officials said they would only vaccinate people aged 75 and older because they did not have enough doses to everybody.
California received more than 2.4 million doses of the vaccine on Monday, but only a third of them have been used. Local governments, meanwhile, are moving quickly to set up massive vaccine distribution sites in hopes of convincing state and federal authorities to send them more doses.
“It’s almost like a beauty pageant. And it shouldn’t be a beauty pageant. It’s a matter of life and death, ”said Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County Supervisor. “It’s a shame that counties like ours and (Orange County) feel the need to come forward.”
Officials opened a vaccination site at Disneyland on Wednesday, boasting it could potentially vaccinate up to 7,000 people a day. Speaking at a press conference in what would normally be a busy parking lot, Orange County Supervisor Doug Chaffee made a direct appeal to President-elect Joe Biden and his goal of vaccinating 100 million people during his first 100 days in office.
“We can help you with that,” Chaffee said. “We have the plan, the facilities, the people and the will to do at least 1.5 million vaccinations per month. So can you send us 4 million doses? “
About 600 kilometers to the north, Santa Clara County officials made their presentation to Governor Gavin Newsom, who has pledged to vaccinate 1 million people by Friday. They say they can administer 35,000 doses per week. But when they asked the state for 100,000 doses, they only received 6,000.
“I’m sure the right people in Santa Clara County can immunize two or three times as many people as the state ever imagined,” said supervisor Mike Wasserman. “Governor, if you want to hit that million-dose number, give Santa Clara County doses.”
To compound the problem: Many county officials do not know how vaccines are used in their area. Shipments are intended for county public health departments as well as hospital chains and pharmacies serving multiple counties; they don’t have to tell local authorities how they use them.
This made it difficult for local governments to plan to achieve their goals. Orange County wants most of its more than 3 million people to be vaccinated by July 4. Santa Clara County wants at least 85% of its eligible residents to be vaccinated by August 1.
Santa Clara County supervisors have proposed a new law that would require large health systems to “produce detailed and written plans and timelines” for vaccine distribution and make those plans public.
“We want to create an environment where there is no competition, maximum collaboration,” said Chavez. “But the longer it takes for a response, the more the scarcity mentality will manifest itself and cities, counties and states will begin to push each other.”
Sutter Health said it first offered the vaccine to healthcare workers and would start vaccinating patients aged 75 or older “later this week.” Kaiser Permanente said he was following the prioritization guidelines of state and federal authorities.
San Diego County, home to 3.3 million people, has received more than 241,000 doses and administered over 92,000 – although the overall number is likely due to the fact that vaccines are also provided by the departments of the defense and veterans to the region’s significant military presence.
San Diego has approximately 620,000 health workers and residents of long-term care facilities. Making people 65 and over eligible for the vaccine adds another 500,000 people to the mix.
“It’s great that the state is saying, ‘Hey, people 65 and over are eligible to get the shot,’ but it does require that counties actually have the shots,” County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said. .
The confusion was sharply criticized by Republican State Senate Leader Shannon Grove, who called the cast “an absolute failure.” A bipartisan group of state lawmakers sent Newsom a letter asking for more details on when the vaccines will be available.
Newsom said the state’s priority was to deliver vaccines “as quickly as possible to those who suffer the most serious consequences.” He urged patience for those who are not yet eligible, saying, “Your turn is coming.”
California has seen virus cases and hospitalizations skyrocket since Thanksgiving, although in recent days the numbers have flattened. Recently reported cases in the past seven days in the nation’s most populous state have far exceeded others, such as Texas and Florida – the second and third most populous US states.
California reported 589 more deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total to 31,102 and 33,751 new infections, some of which will inevitably lead to more hospitalizations and deaths.
Newsom also announced a new system for people to check if they are eligible to receive a vaccine. Orange County already has a similar system in place. As of Tuesday evening, more than 10,000 people made appointments there, and thousands more requested to be notified when other appointments become available.
Gary Dohman, 81, said his son made an appointment for him to be vaccinated at the Disneyland parking lot using the county’s Othena app. He tried to do the same for Dohman’s wife, 79, but the system was so overloaded with requests that she couldn’t get any until Thursday.
Dohman, who is being treated for cancer, said he hasn’t been able to go anywhere since the pandemic hit except for doctor’s appointments, so he was eager to get the shot.
“I’ve been in a house since March,” he says. “I am 81 years old. There are a few things on my “wish list” that I would still like to accomplish. “
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Beam reported from Sacramento.
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Amy Taxin reported from Orange County, California. Associated Press editors Janie Har in San Francisco, Elliot Spagat in San Diego, and Don Thompson and Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento also contributed to this report.
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This story has been corrected to show that the San Joaquin Valley area, not the entire Central Valley, remains under Stay Home Order.
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