Marin gets funding to vaccinate the needy

County had been left out of state equity initiative

Marin County is slated to receive $400,000 in state funding to help vaccinate residents in lowincome neighborhoods against the coronavirus.

The funding is part of a $7.6 million distribution to the nine Bay Area counties. The money can be used to expand vaccine distribution centers in poorer areas, sign people up for vaccine appointments through MyTurn and hire outreach workers, legislators said.

Marin’s health department hasn’t finalized a plan to use the money, but “it’s definitely going to support our strategy to remove any barriers to vaccination for our low-income communities,” said Dr. Matt Willis, the county’s public health officer.

The funding for the Bay Area comes after the region was largely left out of a state equity program announced last month.

In early March, the state announced a new vaccine plan that would set aside 40% of its available doses for 400 priority ZIP codes — and allow reopening restrictions to loosen once 2 million doses were delivered in those areas. The state based the list on a health equity metric known as the California Healthy Places Index, which ranks census tracts based on income, education levels, health care access and other factors.

Yet many communities that expected to be included — where people have contracted and died from COVID-19 at high rates — were left out. In all, just 10 Bay Area ZIP codes made the list, with not a single one located in Marin, San Mateo or Santa Clara counties.

State Sen. Mike McGuire said Bay Area lawmakers have been meeting for weeks with Gov.

Gavin Newsom’s administration to hash out a plan to improve vaccine equity in the region. He said the $7.6 million in funding was the result of those discussions.

The money will be distributed directly to county health departments as soon as next week, McGuire said.

“We’re excited to be able to get these dollars into the hands of counties,” said McGuire, a Democrat who lives in Healdsburg.

The money “will further increase the North Bay’s capacity to get shots into the arms of people that need them as quickly as possible,” said Assemblyman Marc Levine, a Democrat who lives in Greenbrae.

“With more Californians becoming eligible for the vaccine, this additional investment will ensure that we can deliver more COVID-19 vaccines to highrisk communities in our region and across the state,” he said.

Willis said Marin will use the $400,000 for vaccination efforts in the county’s poorest ZIP codes, including parts of West Marin, Novato, Marin City and San Rafael. But while the money will be helpful, he said, it won’t make up for Marin receiving fewer vaccine doses than other counties because of the state’s new equity plan.

“Right now, the biggest limiting factor is not outreach so much as supply,” Willis said. “This is a welcome resource, but if I had to chose between more funding and more vaccine, I’d choose more vaccine.”

Willis said he learned on Thursday that Marin’s vaccine allotment from the state for next week will be slimmer than this week’s. That comes as the county expanded vaccine eligibility to include everyone 50 and older on Thursday, with a plan to include everyone 16 and older on April 15 — the largest group of residents to become eligible so far.