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We all lamented the slowness of SF and the state in administering vaccines. While usage rates are increasing, those hikes aren’t enough to keep Alabama from jumping over CA – which now puts us dead last in the country for the percentage of supplied shots used.
Yes, that’s right: A southern state that ranks 46th in the country for access to health resources does, statistically speaking, do a better job of distributing its COVID-19 vaccines than California. As reported by SFGate, Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker – a digestible electronic tool that helps quantify the progress of vaccine deployments in the county, which also ranks each state’s efforts to distribute vaccines – proves that national use of vaccines. vaccines increased from 38.8. % last week to 48.6% this week. The week before, Alabama was bottom of the standings; California, however, was not far behind in 49th place. But those tables have since changed – and the Golden State is now tarnished by this descriptor.
(In a strange irony, Texas, Florida and New York each fared much better in the rankings, with percentages of shots used standing at 56.1%, 51.3%, and 56.5%, respectively.)
The reasons for the slow rollout of vaccines in California are as complex as they are many. First and foremost: The massive population and size of the state has exacerbated all of the problems currently under consideration. So while many small states can immunize their healthcare workers, first responders, and other at-risk cohorts – including those who should get the vaccine first – more quickly – California faces large numbers of people. who make up these groups before they can do so. move towards wider distribution of the vaccine to the general public.
(The ‘come on, come on all’ model the United States has for administering influenza vaccines will not reduce it for COVID-19; the disease-causing pathogen affects vulnerable populations much worse than seasonal influenza .)
Then there is the very geography of the state.
As mentioned in a recent KQED highlight on the ‘The Bay’ podcast, show host Devin Katayama points out that the size and terrain of the HQ has created even more headaches for transporting the fragile vaccine. to storage facilities. Unlike other vaccines, Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID -19 shots require freezing temperatures that most hospitals cannot achieve without the installation of specialized refrigeration systems, which is why the distribution of doses of CA began to slow significantly in December – which was made worse by the fact that the Trump administration did not have a clear national plan to roll out the vaccine.
Then California saw problems with its computer software for vaccine distribution (so people couldn’t get the doses they needed); skilled healthcare workers are wary of administering the remaining doses to those who are not in the first group (although currently allowed under certain criteria) because CA officials are committed to punishing those who attempt to abuse their power or position by administering the vaccine and a lack of administration sites that will allow healthcare professionals such as dentists, pharmacy technicians and others to deliver the injections.
The vaccine rollout in California lasted two months, two steps forward, one (and a half) step back. And it’s now proven so bad in fact that Alabama, one of the most disadvantaged states in the country – which still has some of the highest rates of heart disease and infant mortality in the country – has surpassed us in its distribution. COVID-19 vaccines.
However, with the city’s plan to open mass vaccination sites coming to fruition this week, including a recent drop in SF’s “COVID-19 reproduction rates”, a respite is coming. It just can’t come fast enough.
Related: Smooth opening of the mass vaccination site at City College – No visits allowed
Teachers, police and food service workers could be next to get COVID vaccines in California
SF will email or text you when you are eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
Image: A pharmacy technician prepares a dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to a patient at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center amid a wave of coronavirus patients on January 21, 2021 in Torrance, California. California has become the first state in the country to record 3 million known COVID-19 infections. Los Angeles County reported more than 250 deaths from COVID-19 on January 21. (Photo by Mario Tama / Getty Images)
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