Californians under 65 who have a disability or serious underlying health conditions will be eligible for vaccination against the coronavirus starting March 15, state officials said Friday, in response to outrage over a recent change intended to halt the state’s slow rollout of vaccines. to speed up.
California delivered vaccines at levels, prioritizing people with high-risk medical conditions over healthy adults and certain key workers over others, but changed course in late January after the complexity of the system seemed to slow distribution. Under the new system, the many categories were replaced with age-based levels.
But when people with chronic illnesses and disabilities were driven in line by people 65 and older, the move caused widespread anger and confusion. Bay Area activists accused Governor Gavin Newsom’s government of assault and criticized the governor on Twitter with the hashtag #HighRiskCA. California now joins a handful of states that qualify for adults with learning disabilities or developmental disabilities or those with underlying health conditions.
The change will extend the Covid-19 vaccinations to people over 16 years of age who are weakened or immunocompromised by cancer or an organ transplant. It also includes those pregnant or suffering from chronic lung disease, Down syndrome, sickle cell disease, heart disease, severe obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease that is stage 4 or higher, and those whose life or ongoing care is otherwise likely to be threatened by Covid-19.
“I want the disability community to know we’ve heard you, and we’re going to do more and better to provide access even with the scarcity of vaccines,” Gov. Newsom said Friday during a visit to a large-scale vaccination center in San Francisco. Moscone Center.