California aims to fully reopen its economy June 15
California is aiming to fully reopen its economy June 15 — the clearest end date eyed for restrictions that have besieged businesses and upended daily life throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials emphasize that getting to the point where California can widely reopen for the first time in more than a year will hinge on two factors: a sufficient vaccine supply to inoculate all those who are eligible and stable and low numbers of people hospitalized with the disease.
There also will not be a full return to prepandemic life. Notably, California’s mask mandate will remain in place.
But officials expressed confidence that the state, through continued improvement in its coronavirus metrics and the steady rollout of vaccines, is now positioned to begin actively planning for what comes after COVID-19.
“With the expectation of
an abundance of doses coming in from the federal government through the end of this month and into May, we can confidently say by June 15 that we can start to open up as business as usual — subject to ongoing mask wearing and ongoing vigilance,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a news conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.
“So this is a big day.” Should all go as planned, June 15 will see the official end of California’s current reopening road map, which sorts counties into one of four color-coded tiers based on three metrics: coronavirus case rates, adjusted based on the number of tests performed; the rate of positive test results; and a health-equity metric intended to ensure that the positive test rate in poorer communities is not significantly higher than the county’s overall figure.
“The entire state will move into this phase as a whole. This will not be county-by-county,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s health and human services secretary, said in a briefing call with reporters.
In a statement, officials said those sectors included in the state’s reopening blueprint will be allowed to “return to usual operations in compliance with Cal/OSHA requirements and with common-sense public health policies in place, such as required masking, testing and with vaccinations encouraged. Large-scale indoor events, such as conventions, will be allowed to occur with testing or vaccination verification requirements.”
Ghaly emphasized that, “if we see any concerning rise in our hospitalizations, we will take the necessary precautions. But right now, we are hopeful in what we’re seeing as we continue to build on the 20 million vaccines
already administered.”
Though state officials said they will keep a watchful eye on vaccine supply and hospitalizations — including how many fully vaccinated people end up requiring that level of care — they did not establish any hard benchmarks to determine whether California is ready to progress.
“We don’t have a specific number, per se, on the hospitalizations, but are looking at impacts on hospital capacity and the delivery systems’ ability to continue to deliver routine care,” Ghaly said.
On Monday ,1,989 corona virus positive patients were hospitalized in California—with 493 of them in intensive care. The state hasn’t seen numbers that low since last spring.
Part of the reason June 15 was chosen as the target date, Ghaly said, was that it falls two months after the state will extend vaccine eligibility to anyone 16 and older.
“We wanted to be able to provide at least a couple of weeks, two to three weeks, for individuals interested in getting vaccinated who suddenly become eligible on April 15 to get in line to get their vaccines started,” he said.
The timeline for full vaccination depends on what type of shot is administered. Ghaly noted that the longest time frame is associated with the Moderna vaccine — which has a fourweek gap between first and second doses.
Health officials consider someone to be fully vaccinated two weeks after they receive their final dose.
To date, providers throughout California have doled out 20.3 million total COVID-19 vaccine doses, and 34.2% of residents have received at least one shot, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Roughly 18.1% of Californians are fully vaccinated, meaning
they’ve either received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine or both required doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
Nationwide, 32.4% of Americans have received at least one dose, and 18.8% are fully vaccinated, CDC data show.
Along with the progress being made on the vaccine front, officials pointed out that California is also currently enjoying one of the lowest coronavirus case rates in the nation — a welcome development as other areas of the country contend with new spikes of the illness.
According to data from the CDC, California’s latest sevenday new case rate of 45.5 per 100,000 people per day is the fourth-lowest among all states and significantly below the nationwide rate of 133.8.
Climbing case rates have been seen in Michigan with 471; New Jersey, 335; New York City, 307.7; the rest of New York state, 248.7; and Pennsylvania, 235.4.