Gov. Newsom Lays Out Priority Plan For Statewide Vaccine Distribution
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Governor Gavin Newsom announced Thursday a plan for distributing the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine in California.
Earlier in the week, Gov. Newsom said California will receive 327,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine by mid-December.
Newsom elaborated on what kinds of workers will be prioritized and how many doses will be distributed by pre-determined regions in California.
"The first vaccines, 327,000 doses of the first vaccines directly being delivered from Pfizer, will go to three tiers in six regions in the state," Newsom said during an online press conference.
Tier 1, or the first group to receive the vaccine, will be those in acute care, psychiatric and correctional facility hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living or similar settings, paramedics, EMTs, and dialysis centers.
Tier 2 includes those in immediate care facilities, public health field staff, primary care clinics (such as rural health centers, correctional facility clinics, and urgent care clinics), home healthcare and supportive services, and community health workers.
Tier 3 is reserved for other settings and health care employees including those working in laboratories, dental or oral health clinics, specialty clinics, and pharmacy staff not included in higher tiers.
"So you get a sense of these tiers in terms of our prioritization of distribution based upon the scarcity of the first available doses," added Newsom.
According to an online map from the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Region I, which will receive the highest number of doses, is called the Southern Region. It includes L.A., Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo County.
Region II is called the Coastal Region and includes Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Marin, Santa Clara, Napa, and Humboldt County, among others.
Regions III through VI are collectively called the Inland Region. They include San Diego, Riverside, San Bernadino, Imperial, Kern, Fresno, Merced, and Shasta County, among others.
The new vaccine information comes as cases surge in the state. Some regions in California hardest-hit by COVID-19 hospitalizations could be under a mandatory stay-at-home order within days if hospitalizations increase, Newsom said.
Over the last two weeks, COVID-19-related hospitalizations have increased by 89 percent.
