Newsom needs to deliver on vaccinations
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to open COVID-19 vaccination appointments to everyone 16 and older on April 15 is based more on politics than what’s best for California.
The governor, who faces a possible recall vote this fall, wants Californians to buy into his premise that the state has a “robust” vaccination record and that we are only weeks away from fully reopening the economy.
But Bay Area county officials say it likely will be months before they can vaccinate everyone who wants a shot, which will only add to residents’ frustrations. Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith said Friday that the governor’s move will also make it that much harder for low-income, disadvantaged communities to gain access to vaccinations. California already ranks in the bottom five in vaccine equity.
Let’s be clear. From the beginning, California’s vaccination record has been plagued by insufficient doses and mass confusion over how to obtain an appointment. The governor shouldn’t open up appointments to a wider age group until he can demonstrate that California is meeting the current demand. The state continues to underperform other states in that endeavor.
President Joe Biden promised Thursday that the country will administer 200 million shots by the end of his first 100 days in office (April 30). And Newsom said that the state is set to receive about 2.5 million shots per week in the first half of April and more than 3 million doses per week in the second half of the month. But local county officials say they are not receiving the doses they expected to receive from the state in recent weeks. Nor is the state being transparent about how many doses counties can expect to receive in the weeks ahead.
“We are concerned beginning next week on April 1, when we add that additional 400,000 people (eligible for vaccinations) that we don’t have the vaccine,” said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 testing and vaccine officer. “So we really just want to caution people to please continue to be patient.”
At the national level, vaccine producer Johnson & Johnson has struggled to meet its delivery targets and is still plagued by production issues. Johnson & Johnson has already reduced its target from 37 million to 20 million doses by the end of March. The company’s contract with the federal government calls for Johnson & Johnson to deliver an additional 50 million doses by the end of June.
Bay Area county officials said they have the capacity to deliver additional vaccines if supply increases. Smith said Santa Clara County is capable of doing 30,000 vaccinations a day, seven days a week, but in order to meet that goal the county would need to receive three times as many doses as it is currently getting.
The governor has a lot of work to do to prove to Californians that he can deliver on his vaccination promises.