Coming To California: What We Know About The Vaccine Rollout

Kat Schuster
Updated ·5 min read

CALIFORNIA — Another weekend of record coronavirus numbers in California came with a small glimmer of hope. A workgroup of medical officials from the western states confirmed the safety of the Pfizer vaccine Sunday morning, giving the green light for California's long-awaited vaccine rollout.

The Western States Scientific Review Workgroup completed a review of the Pfizer vaccine, deeming it "safe and efficacious."

But its arrival won't do much to slow a worsening surge in hospitalizations and plummeting intensive care unit capacity across the state.

An entire region of California, the San Joaquin Valley, ran out of ICU beds Saturday while Southern California also crossed a grim threshold with less than 5.3 percent intensive care capacity. Both regions are set to remain under the grip of a regional stay-at-home order until capacity bounces back to 15 percent.

Trucks carrying the first shipment of the two-dose coronavirus vaccine left Pfizer's facility in Michigan Sunday morning with the first distributions in the Golden State expected late Sunday or early Monday.

The rollout will begin with health workers, who have been beleaguered by an increasingly dire surge, filling hospitals more each day throughout the state.

"Hospitals are overwhelmed with admitted patients to both the floors and the ICUs," Dr. Carl Schultz, EMS director for Orange County's Health Care Agency, wrote in a letter to hospitals, urging them to activate surge plans. "At the current rate of deterioration, the EMS system may collapse unless emergency directives are implemented now."

(Widget courtesy of CalMatters)

Officials were still awaiting the arrival of some 327,600 doses of the vaccine late Sunday afternoon, which were previously expected to enter the state Saturday.

"Once it is in, we're just going to get it all out in 48 hours," Orange County CEO Frank Kim. "I don't want to sit on it. The minute it comes in I don't care what time of day it is, I'll push it out."

Law enforcement officials in the Golden State were also warning the public to beware of fraudulent sales pitches. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes noted that the vaccines would be distributed for no charge.

“As California continues to fight the surge, we know hope is on the way with a vaccine. While we remain vigilant in stopping the spread," Newsom said in a Sunday statement, urging Californians to continue wearing masks and social distancing.

The state reported 30,334 new coronavirus cases Sunday, adding to a total of 1,551,766, according to the state's COVID-19 Dashboard. The state reported 122 deaths related to coronavirus Sunday, adding to a death toll of 20,969.

The City News Service contributed to this report.

SEE ALSO: Coronavirus Vaccine: Most In CA Want, But Many Have Concerns

Here's what we know about California's vaccine rollout:

How many vaccines will California receive and when?

Following the FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine, California will receive 327,000 doses in the rollout, beginning Sunday night or first thing Monday morning.

And depending on how quickly the Moderna vaccine is approved, a shipment of its vaccines could also be shipped to the Golden State in December. Newsom said Thursday that California could receive some 672,000 doses of Moderna in late December.

Both Pfizer and Moderna require two doses.

California public health officials have said that 2 million vaccines could arrive in California by the end of December, providing the first dose to 2 million. Second doses will follow as more shipments are approved and sent out.

Who will receive the first dose?

Healthcare workers and residents of "long-term care facilities," will receive the first dose, Newsom has said.

During Phase 1a of the rollout, state officials have drawn up the following three tiers of Californians who will be eligible to receive the first dose:

Tier 1

  • Acute care, psychiatric and correctional facility hospitals

  • Skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and similar settings for older or medically vulnerable individuals

  • Also, in concordance with ACIP, residents in these settings

  • Paramedics, EMTs and others providing emergency medical services

  • Dialysis centers

Tier 2

  • Intermediate care facilities for persons who need non-continuous nursing supervision and supportive care

  • Home health care and in-home supportive services

  • Community health workers

  • Public health field staff

  • Primary Care clinics, including Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Centers, correctional facility clinics, and urgent care clinics

Tier 3

Other settings and health care workers, including

  • Specialty clinics

  • Laboratory workers

  • Dental and other oral health clinics

  • Pharmacy staff not working in settings at higher tiers

Where will the first vaccines be distributed in California?

The initial 327,000 doses will be allocated to the following regions:

Region I: 126,750 doses: Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura

Region II: 80,497 doses: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Shasta, Solano and Sonoma

Region III: 8,592 doses: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity and Yuba

Region IV: 35,145 doses: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo

Region V: 16,706: Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa and Merced

Region VI: 59,910: Imperial, Inyo, Mono, Riverside and San Bernardino

When will the general public have widespread access to vaccines?

Newsom has said on several occasions over the past month that "mass vaccinations" would be unlikely until the spring of 2021. He has said that vaccines are likely to be very limited in the first rollout.

But the FDA is likely to approve Moderna and perhaps another vaccine in December and January of next year and Newsom has said the state will act quickly.

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This article originally appeared on the Across California Patch