California vaccine eligibility will expand on March 15, but the MyTurn site will not allow you to sign up

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – As of Monday, March 15, California’s vaccine eligibility expands enormously to an additional 4.4 million people. That’s because this next phase of the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines makes it possible for people with serious underlying health conditions to get an injection.

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

• Cancer
• Chronic kidney disease, stage 4 or higher
• Chronic lung disease
• Down syndrome
• Immunocompromised state due to organ transplantation
• Pregnancy
• Sickle cell disease
• Heart conditions (heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies; excluding hypertension)
• Severe obesity
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus
• Other developmental disabilities or high-risk disabilities that put a person at particularly high risk

That last point makes things a bit blurry. In essence, any person whose health is considered “endangered” by a health care practitioner can qualify.

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

“If your healthcare provider says you qualify for a vaccine, we will largely comply with that order,” Colfax said. “The point is that we want low-threshold access to vaccines. We don’t want to create too much bureaucracy, too much training.”

But bureaucracy is already getting in the way. As of Friday afternoon, people with high-risk conditions still couldn’t make appointments for Monday or the day after on the MyTurn website. “It will be your turn soon, but you are currently not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine,” the site said.

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

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Appointments can be difficult until the vaccine supply really starts to increase.

“We do not expect a dramatic increase in the coming weeks,” said Mike Wasserman, who is a member of the California Vaccine Advisory Committee. “But I am optimistic about what we are hearing from the Biden administration. I certainly hope we will see an increase in April.”

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