• California aims to vaccinate its most vulnerable populations,

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will begin sending 40% of all vaccine doses to the most vulnerable neighborhoods in the state to try to inoculate people most at risk from the coronavirus and get the state’s economy open more quickly, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday in the latest shakeup to the state’s rules.

The doses will be spread among 400 ZIP codes where there are about 8 million people eligible for shots, said Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s health and human services secretary. Many of the neighborhoods are in Los Angeles County and the central valley, which have had among the highest rates of infection.

The areas are considered most vulnerable based on metrics such as household income, education level and access to health care. Mr. Newsom said that not only is this the right thing to do, it’s critical to opening up more of the state’s economy.

“It’s a race to safely, thoughtfully open our economy, mindful that it has to be an economy that doesn’t leave people behind, that is truly inclusive,” Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, said at a news conference. He also encouraged people to wear two masks.

The announcement is the latest change in an evolving approach to getting nearly 40 million residents vaccinated.

Tying reopening to vaccination equity metrics was cheered by representatives of the legislative Black and Latino caucuses. Latinos make up roughly half of cases and deaths in California even though they are 39% of the population.

The current standards for who can get a vaccine won’t change. Right now that’s people 65 and over, farmworkers and grocery clerks, educators and emergency service workers. Transit workers, flight attendants and hardware store clerks are among those clamoring to be added to the priority access list.

“I wouldn’t say it’s not fair, but it should be thought out a little bit more,” said Lee Snyder, assistant manager at Brownies Ace Hardware in San Francisco.

Setting aside 40% of vaccine supply essentially means that hard-hit ZIP codes will be administering double what they are currently, Dr. Ghaly said. Data show that of shots given, only about 17% were administered in vulnerable communities that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Double that amount was going to those in the top quarter of what California deems the healthiest communities, Dr. Ghaly said.

Community health clinics that serve low-income and vulnerable Californians say they haven’t been getting enough doses. Dr. Ghaly said Thursday that the administration will work with communities to make sure the vaccine gets to those patients, not to day-trippers from wealthier ZIP codes who have the time and tech savvy to schedule appointments online.

The health centers want to protect appointments for patients from underserved communities “to ensure those people we are targeting are coming, not the vaccine seekers” from wealthier neighborhoods, said Andie Martinez Patterson, vice president of government affairs at the California Primary Care Association. She said a recent South Los Angeles clinic’s appointments had been booked