REASONS FOR OPTIMISM DESPITE ROLLOUT WOES

As California nears the anniversary of its March 19, 2020, lockdown, many restrictions remain in place — and there is continuing cause for concern, even with much lower rates of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations and COVID-19 deaths.

One big issue is local distribution headaches keep turning up to dampen the enthusiasm about a huge new increase in vaccinations. This weekend, the Del Mar Fairgrounds COVID-19 vaccine super station will be closed because of problems with MyTurn — the state’s vaccine notification and scheduling system found at myturn.ca.gov — that Scripps Health said created a shortage of vaccines. UC San Diego’s Petco Park vaccination super station has also had to close repeatedly because of vaccine shortages. There have been legitimate reasons for these closures, but San Diegans whose appointments are canceled or hard to set up are right to be frustrated.

Still, there is good news. Beginning Monday, all Californians aged from 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions will be eligible for vaccinations — a sharp expansion from rules limiting shots to health care workers, long-term care residents, and those working in emergency services, education, childcare, and the food and agriculture sectors.

And the future is bright for California’s economy as the pandemic ebbs. In their quarterly economic forecast, UCLA researchers predicted near-record growth for the state in 2021, followed by continued gains in 2022 and 2023. That would lead to unemployment dropping to 4.1 percent — near the 3.9 percent rate seen before the pandemic.

The Golden State isn’t out of the woods yet. But, thankfully, pandemic news is now far less grim.