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Gov. Newsom: Everyone In CA Will Be Eligible For the Vaccine Within The Next 5-And-A-Half Weeks
Healthcare workers get vaccinated for COVID-19 at the Martin Luther King Jr Community Hospital. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)
In just a matter of weeks, California may phase out its COVID-19 vaccine priority tiers, making all adults in the state (everyone 16-and-over) eligible for a shot.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he expects that could happen within the next five-and-a-half weeks, as California's vaccine supply increases. That would put California a few days ahead of President Joe Biden's goal to make doses available to every American by May 1.
Meanwhile, L.A. County health officials are gearing up to expand the number of shots they can give out, with the hope of administering more than a million a week. They anticipate getting larger shipments of the vaccine soon.
But Dr. Paul Simon, the chief science officer for LA County's Department of Public Health, says it's still not clear if supply will keep pace with demand once everyone is eligible for a shot:
"I would worry if we don't have sufficient supply, and we open [eligibility] up prematurely, then the people who really need it the most will have more difficulty getting the vaccine -- longer delays -- and [that] would have an unintended consequence."
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