County vaccine allotment cut
Reduction in state supply of Covid-19 vaccine cited
Mendocino County officials announced Thursday that there will be “significant changes” in the amount of vaccine allocations from the state of California in upcoming weeks.
According to a press release sent April 8 (the same day the county hosted a first-dose vaccine clinic at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds again after weeks of mostly second-dose clinics), on Wednesday “the California Department of Public Health announced significant vaccine allocation changes. Unfortunately, the state is receiving a reduced supply of Covid-19 vaccines from the Federal Government for allocation to local health jurisdictions and providers.”
The press release goes on to explain that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “indicates there are approximately one million first doses available for allocation by the state this week,” which the county describes as “a 33-percent decrease from last week.” And specifically for the Janssen, or Johnson & Johnson, vaccine, there will be “close to a 95-percent reduction from approximately 572,000 doses last week to 67,000 doses this week.”
The reduction is described as being “caused by near-term supply challenges at the national level, as well as increasing proportions of California’s vaccines being delivered through the federal direct allocation programs. The state plans to reduce first dose allocations across Local Health Jurisdictions geographies proportionately across the board,” meaning that LHJ areas and providers will receive approximately 65 to
67 percent of their total allocation from last week.
The county reports that the reduction in vaccine allotment will not affect second doses, and the county “will focus on administering second doses, which continue to be timed 3 to 4 weeks out, as applicable, after first-dose allocations. We continue to expect vaccine supply for state allocation to increase by the end of April.”
The county also notes that “the State plans, starting with next week’s allocation, to begin using both federal direct allocations and available inventory data, to adjust allocations at Local Health Jurisdictions and provider levels.”