To expand vaccine access to the state’s hardest hit communities, California will dedicate 40% of its COVID-19 vaccine supplies to people at the bottom 25% of the state’s socioeconomic ladder, State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced on Wednesday night.
This new distribution plan will be linked to another major change: Eased criteria in the color-coded plan for counties to re-open non-essential businesses, aiding the economy, he said.
“We believe that we can make deep progress by allocating a significant amount of the state’s vaccine to these communities to ensure that we protect the most vulnerable and these communities at large, in a very deliberate and direct way,” Ghaly said.
Californians at the bottom 25% of the state’s socioeconomic ladder have suffered from 40% of COVID-19 cases, according to state data.
Initially, 2 million doses of vaccines will be shipped to communities represented by 400 different zip codes in the hardest hit regions of the state, especially Los Angeles and the Central Valley.
At the same time, the state will increase the number of allowable COVID-19 cases to allow the opening of more non-essential indoor businesses.
Currently, counties with more than seven daily new cases per 100,000 residents are in the most restrictive purple tier of the state’s color-coded reopening system, which indicates the virus is “widespread.”
Under the new system, counties will be allowed to advance into the red tier – with just some non-essential indoor businesses closed – if they have 10 daily new cases per 100,000 residents.
After those 2 million vaccine doses are distributed, another 4 million doses will be distributed to the same neighborhoods.
At that point, the state will adjust the two other tiers, orange and yellow. Over time, this will allow most indoor business operations to open with modifications.
“The thinking is that with more Californians especially the most vulnerable Californians vaccinated, that essentially will take a higher level of cases to really trigger widespread transmission across the state,” Ghaly said.
“This additional protection of vaccinations allows us to have some additional cases,” he said. “And the focus on on the most vulnerable and those older Californians… we are more confident that even with some transmission, the most vulnerable are protected and won’t likely be getting so sick that hospitals are not able to deliver high quality care for all those in need.”
An estimated 8 million Californians live in the 400 targeted zip codes. This means that the first 2 million doses will help protect about one-quarter of their residents. The additional 4 million doses could protect up to three-quarters of their residents. This will be first doses, not second.
The adjustment will happen within the next two weeks, he said.
What will be measured is not delivery of the vaccine, but actual inoculation of residents, he said. The vaccines will only be given to people who live in the communities, not outsiders.
The communities were selected based state health equity metric called the California Healthy Places Index. It is a composite of factors such as household income, level of education, housing status and access to transportation.
There is no change to the plan to dedicate 10% of vaccine supplies to teachers, Ghaly said.
Teachers, first responders and food and agricultural workers will continue to be prioritized for vaccines, he said. He did not address whether the new plan will delay the distribution of vaccine to people ages 16 to 64 who are disabled or at high risk for morbidity and mortality from COVID-19, which was announced last month.
