California aims to more than double vaccination rates through a new partnership with Blue Shield

The state continues to be responsible for approving the allocation of vaccines to certain large healthcare providers such as the county and Kaiser Permanente and deciding how to divide the dose. Blue Shield is tasked with developing a system to help the state make these decisions and manage distribution details.

The Blue Shield distribution system needs to consider not only the number of people serviced by the county or provider, but also the speed of vaccination and how well it reaches the underprivileged community.

The state and Blue Shield have set a goal to increase capacity so that California can vaccinate 3 million people a week by the end of this month and 4 million people a week by the end of April. Whether they can manage that number of shots depends on the supply not controlled by the state.

California currently vaccinates about 1.3 million people a week. According to the State Department, the state had more than 6 million doses as of Monday.

Other goals relate to equal access to vaccination. 95% of the population needs to have vaccines available within 30 minutes of travel time in urban areas and 60 minutes in rural areas, and plans to vaccinate those who cannot leave their homes. The contract reiterates the development goals and metrics for vaccination of the communities most burdened by the coronavirus.

The Oakland Coliseum Site aims to solve some of these equity issues, along with similar operations in Los Angeles, California. The Colosseum Clinic is open to all Californians, not just residents of Alameda County, but must meet current county vaccination requirements to book. The group includes healthcare professionals. People over 65 years old. Workers in education, emergency services, food and agriculture industries.

Both sites prioritize access to people who may have problems getting vaccinated elsewhere, according to state and federal officials. There was a problem with the fair distribution of vaccines. Residents of Latin descent and blacks, in particular, are vaccinated at a much lower rate than whites, despite the burden of much more serious illness.

“These sites are generally set up to reach people who are struggling to get good medical care,” said Grady Joseph, assistant director of Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). I am. “We approach both of these sites from an impartial perspective, and make sure that individuals who have historically struggled to access are at the forefront.”

The sites of the Oakland Coliseum and Los Angeles, California were first announced by the Biden administration this month as part of a plan to build 100 mass immunization clinics nationwide in the 100 days following the inauguration of the president. The Oakland Coliseum site aims to administer 6,000 times daily. Both sites are operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the State through CalOES.

Vaccine supplies to the Oakland site are provided directly by the federal government, not by Alameda County allocation, and you do not need to be a county resident to use the site.Other large vaccination clinics including San Francisco Temporarily closed this weekRelies on vaccine supply from the infamous and inconsistent county allocation.

Mayor London Breed lamented a shortage of vaccines on Twitter on Sunday and announced that two sites in San Francisco would be closed at least until the weekend.

“I’m frustrated because I’ve shown that SF can manage as soon as it receives a shot,” Bleed wrote. “The only thing that is blocking us is the supply shortage. I hope it will change soon.”

Similarly, public health officials had to suspend vaccinations in several parts of Southern California last week, including Dodger Stadium. The site will reopen on Tuesday, but public health officials say it is only for people taking a second dose. They said the ability to expand the clinic was primarily limited by the supply of vaccines.

“Our city has the tools, infrastructure and determination to vaccinate Angelenos quickly and safely, and we need more doses,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti of the City of Los Angeles in a statement Monday. “.

Rutherford said part of the supply problem was a takeover from the Trump administration, over-promising the number of doses available to the state. Vaccines reached near-promised levels in the first few weeks of deployment in early December and were soon deficient.

“Given all the circumstances, everyone is trying to do the best we can,” Rutherford said.