California vaccine eligibility increases on March 15, but MyTurn site won’t let you register

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – As of Monday, March 15, vaccine eligibility expands massively in California to include an additional 4.4 million people. That’s because this next phase of COVID-19 vaccine distribution allows people with serious underlying health conditions to get vaccinated.

This applies to you if you are between 16 and 64 years old with one of the following conditions:

• Cancer
• Chronic kidney disease, stage 4 or above
• Chronic lung disease
• Down syndrome
• Immunocompromised condition following organ transplantation
• Pregnancy
• Sickle cell anemia
• Heart disease (heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathy; excludes hypertension)
• Severe obesity
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus
• Other developmental or high-risk disabilities that put a person at particularly high risk

This last point blurs things a bit. Essentially, anyone whose health is deemed “at risk” by a health care provider could be eligible.

Some call it a loophole, but San Francisco health director Dr Grant Colfax said it was intentional.

“If your health care provider says you’re eligible for a vaccine, most of us will comply with that order,” Colfax said. “The point is, we want low-barrier access to vaccines. We don’t want to create too much bureaucracy, too many forms.”

But bureaucracy is already standing in the way. As of Friday afternoon, people with high-risk conditions were still unable to make an appointment for Monday or a day after on the MyTurn website. “It will be your turn soon, but you are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine at this time,” the site read.

We asked the California Department of Public Health when these appointments would be available online. A spokesperson replied, “This availability will be available by the 15th,” but did not offer a specific date or time.

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Appointments might be hard to find until the vaccine supply really starts to increase.

“We don’t expect a dramatic increase over the next two weeks,” said Mike Wasserman, who sits on the California Vaccine Advisory Committee. “But I’m optimistic from what we’re hearing from the Biden administration. I certainly hope we see an increase in April.”

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he will order states to make everyone, regardless of age, occupation or level of risk, eligible for the vaccine by May 1.