California to expand the COVID-19 vaccine pool to people with high medical risk, disability

Beginning in mid-March, eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine will be extended to people with serious health conditions and disabilities that put them at high risk of death if they contracted the virus, an extension that coincides with California that greatly improves vaccine distribution . rates of the past month.

State health officials released a bulletin to healthcare providers and physicians on Friday announcing that as of March 15 they have the discretion to vaccinate people ages 16 to 64 who are believed to be at highest risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 . The list of eligible conditions includes the following conditions: cancer, chronic kidney and lung disease, Down’s syndrome, organ transplantation, pregnancy, sickle cell disease, heart disease excluding hypertension, severe obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The bulletin also gives ample freedom to vaccinate people with disabilities who, according to a doctor, would make them highly susceptible to life-threatening illness or death from COVID-19, or limit their ability to receive medical or other ongoing care that ‘ essential to their well-being ‘. -being and surviving. Officials added that these criteria are “subject to change”.

“I’m excited,” said Aaron Carruthers, executive director of the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, which serves people with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, severe epilepsy, autism, and other conditions that need lifelong support. “I appreciate the great commitment of the Governor and the Administration to people with developmental disabilities and other disabilities that put them at high risk of a poor outcome from COVID.”

This expansion marks a move towards Phase 1C of the state’s vaccination levels, and marks a surge in the state’s confidence in vaccinating its residents. A month ago, California ranked 41st in the country in terms of administering vaccines on hand, a product of complicated distribution and tracking that led to unequal access, exacerbated by health workers’ early reluctance to get the shot.

The Golden State now ranks 19th and federally managed vaccine production continues to accelerate. Blue Shield and Kaiser will adopt and streamline state allocation protocols to ensure the forthcoming expansion and equitable distribution of vaccine access to groups such as food and agricultural workers and people with underlying health risks.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that California has administered 67% of the nearly 8 million Pfizer and Moderna doses it has received and that more than 10% of the state’s 40 million residents have at least a first dose got. . So far, it has been mainly health workers, residents over 65 and some care workers and teachers. But only a quarter of them have been fully vaccinated.

Before Friday, about 13 million Californians were eligible for the vaccine. That will rise to a whopping 19 million on March 15.

The state had an average of 11,320 new COVID-19 cases per day for the past week, a quarter from the same point in January, which was the peak of the winter virus rise in the state. That improvement includes a 50% drop in the past two weeks, according to data collected by this news organization.

The number of deaths from the coronavirus continues to occur at a rate of about 414 per day for the past week, almost 25% lower than two weeks ago, but still three times higher than at any point prior to the winter wave.

Dr. George Rutherford, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UC San Francisco, said the declining rates and deaths could be partly explained by vaccinations.

“We’ve already seen it two and three weeks ago,” said Rutherford, noting a drop in deaths in nursing homes ravaged by the virus early in the pandemic.

He also attributed the decline to declining transmissions in densely populated areas – mostly Latino neighborhoods that have carried a disproportionate virus load – as residents acquire natural immunity at great expense, while public health officials struggle to send them more vaccines.

Vaccine production is gradually increasing, and an FDA emergency is expected later this month for a Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which is being lauded for requiring only one injection and does not require frozen storage like the Pfizer and Moderna treatments with two doses.

But demand from a population of more than 300 million continues to diminish supply. The CDC reported Friday morning that just over 69 million doses of vaccine had been distributed in the country and that about 36 million Americans have received at least a first dose. Only a third of them are fully vaccinated.

Still, Rutherford says the trajectory of the country’s progress to contain the virus continues to improve. Massive vaccination sites such as those being set up at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, the Oakland Coliseum and the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and mobile vaccination units and national pharmacy chains entering the vaccine network are seen as indications that COVID-19’s devastation has crested .

In a Thursday appearance on the “Today” show, Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden’s COVID-19, said there could be wide access to vaccines as early as the middle of spring.

“I imagine that by the time we get to April, that’s what I would call, for better wording, ‘open season’,” said Fauci. “Namely, almost anyone and everyone in any category could get vaccinated.”

But because of the offer, Fauci said, it’s unlikely that the practical impact of that broader suitability – the herd immunity needed to safely override movement and shelter restrictions – won’t be seen until mid to late summer.