California Governor Gavin Newsom’s assurances that “help is on the way” in the form of COVID-19 vaccinations are coming to fruition. Deputy Chief Executive Officer Sarah Dukett told us that the State of California has informed Mendocino County that 975 vaccines are “supposed to be coming” to the county in the coming weeks.
Dukett explained that because the vaccine requires two doses, as of now, the County is unclear whether they will be provided “doses for 975 people or 975 doses which would only be 487 vaccinated.”
During yesterday’s press conference, Governor Newsom announced that California would be receiving 327,000 doses of Pfizer’s new COVID-19 vaccine in mid-December.
Regarding Mendocino County’s readiness to receive, store, and distribute the vaccine, Dukett said the county “has a team working it” and “when we have more details and a clear plan, we will release information.”
According to Governor Newsom, a three-tiered system will guide who will be receiving the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Tier I will include:
- Acute care, psychiatric and correctional facility hospitals
- Skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and similar settings for older or medically vulnerable.
- Paramedics, EMTs, and others providing emergency medical services
- Dialysis centers
Tier II will include:
- Intermediate care facilities
- Home healthcare & supportive services
- Community health workers
- Public health field staff
- Primary Care clinics, including Rural Health Centers, correctional facility clinics and urgent care clinics
Finally, Tier III will include:
- Specialty clinics
- Laboratory workers
- Dental / oral health clinics
- Pharmacy staff not working in settings at higher tiers
The 327,000 vaccinations will be distributed to six California regions. The six regions are as follows:
- Region 1 (126,750 doses) Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.
- Region 2 (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 counties.
- Region 3 (8,592 doses) Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, and Yuba counties.
- Region 4 (35,145 dose) Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne, and Yolo counties.
- Region 5 (16,706 doses) Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, and Merced counties.
- Region 6 (59,910 doses) Imperial, Inyo, Mono, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.
Governor Newsom said that starting Friday, December 4, “these regions will make orders based on prioritizations of the 3 tiers.”
