California Loosening COVID-19 Vaccine Tiers To Get More People Vaccinated
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Governor Newsom said Monday the state is making changes to its COVID-19 vaccination plan in order to vaccinate more Californians.
Newsom said the state is loosening restrictions on the tiers of who can get the vaccines and the phases within the tiers.
"We don't want to see any (COVID-19 vaccine) dose wasted," said. Gov. Newsom. "If there is a dose sitting there with no one queued up, based upon existing tiers, we want to be able to move to other priority groups, other priority phases, and tiers within those phases."
Although the focus remains on vaccinating frontline health workers and those at residential facilities, if those people are not present, the vaccinators now have the flexibility to move into other tiers and phases within the tiers and treat those next in line. Currently, the next phase is Phase 1B Tier One.
Phase 1B Tier Tier One:
- 75 and older
- Workers in education and healthcare, emergency services, food and agriculture.
In order to treat more people, the state will also be opening up more mass vaccination sites this week, which include CalExpo, Dodgers Stadium, and Padres Stadium.
If those people aren't queued up, those in Phase 1B Tier Two are next in line to get the vaccine.
Phase 1B Tier Tier Two:
- 65 and older
- Those with jobs in transportation/logistics; industrial, residential and commercial sheltering services; critical manufacturing
- Incarcerated people
- Homeless.
On Monday, California hit another grim coronavirus milestone. Data from John Hopkins University on Monday showed the nation's most populous state has recorded more than 30,000 deaths since the pandemic started nearly a year ago.
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Deaths have exploded since a COVID-19 surge began in October. It took California six months to record its first 10,000 deaths. But in barely a month, the total rose from 20,000 to 30,000.
Over the weekend, state officials reported a two-day record of 1,163 deaths. Hospitalizations also have exploded and many hospitals are stretched to the limit.
