As health care giant Blue Shield of California gets set to take over the state鈥檚 distribution network for COVID-19 vaccines, public health officials say the state is on track to begin administering 3 million weekly doses.
Meeting that goal will depend on two things: vaccine supply and Blue Shield鈥檚 handling of distribution logistics. But the latter is already facing some scrutiny from county health officials who are speaking out about delays in the system.
Yolanda Richardson, secretary of the California Government Operations Agency and the state鈥檚 lead on vaccine operations, is optimistic.
鈥淲e are building on the strong foundation of clinics operating in our local health jurisdictions, and dramatically increasing the capacity to deliver vaccines by adding new vaccination providers and sites where the vaccine will be available,鈥� Richardson told reporters Friday afternoon on a call with Blue Shield President and CEO Paul Markovich.
Richardson said the state has the capacity to scale up as more doses become available.
鈥淲e are well on our way to hitting our 3 million doses per week capacity goal, and by the end of April, our goal is to create the capacity to administer 4 million shots per week,鈥� she said.
That goal includes doses administered at the state鈥檚 mass vaccination centers, smaller clinics and private facilities that receive vaccines directly from the federal government.
But with vaccination supply still limited, the state has yet to reach half of that weekly goal. According to data from the California Department of Public Health, the state is averaging roughly 1 million doses administered weekly.
Blue Shield, which received a is expected to take full responsibility of the state鈥檚 distribution network by the end of the month. Until then, the company will gradually work with counties to get them acclimated to the new network, including using California鈥檚 , which will soon be the main source for the state鈥檚 residents to sign up for appointments.
The state says more than 500,000 vaccinations have been administered through MyTurn and more than 1.6 million people are signed up. About 40 million people live in California.
鈥淭he use of My Turn will also help the state have greater visibility into who is getting vaccinated and how to better fine tune equity-focused allocation and outreach efforts,鈥� the state wrote in a press release. 鈥淭his will be a key component of the state鈥檚 continued focus on vaccine equity.鈥�
But there have already been issues with the state鈥檚 website.
found people who were not yet eligible to receive the vaccine were getting shots reserved for Black and Latinx communities that have been hit hard by COVID-19. The program sent out access codes to community organizations to give to residents in underserved neighborhoods, but those codes made it into the hands of some of LA County鈥檚 wealthy residents.
Several other counties in recent days have complained of poor communication with Blue Shield and a delayed transition to the new statewide system.
In Sacramento County, health officials said they received far fewer doses of the COVID-19 vaccine than it was allotted in prior weeks. County acting health director Jim Hunt said he spoke with California health officials about the discrepancy, but was told it wasn鈥檛 the state鈥檚 problem anymore.
鈥淭his is just unacceptable, and that鈥檚 just what we have said to them,鈥� Hunt told the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday. 鈥淎nd we have pointed out the flaws in their methodology, we have pointed out the inequities, and we鈥檝e been told 鈥榃e can鈥檛 do nothing about that now, it鈥檚 Blue Shield鈥檚 problem.鈥�
Hunt said his department was working to set up a meeting with Blue Shield.
County data show that Sacramento received about 3,300 fewer doses this week compared to last. It鈥檚 the lowest amount they鈥檝e received this month.
As part of California鈥檚 partnership with Blue Shield, starting in March the health care provider will make allocation recommendations to state health officials for doses delivered weekly. The state will make the final decision and even set the criteria Blue Shield will use to determine allocation. The state鈥檚 current criteria allocates 70% of doses for senior residents and 30% for frontline workers in education, childcare, emergency services and food and agriculture.
But San Joaquin County supervisors said they may attempt to challenge Blue Shield鈥檚 partnership. The county was using the BAYESIANT risk assessment data system to determine who was most at risk of dying or being hospitalized by COVID-19.
County Public Health Officer Dr. Maggie Park said they were making good progress.
鈥淲e all feel we were doing a great job trying to hit our health equity, trying to get the vaccine into communities where we know the need is because we know our own community,鈥� Park said.
Supervisor Chuck Winn agreed, saying that their approach was much more surgical than what the state model will be.
鈥淲e can pick those individuals or neighborhoods that are most affected by the virus,鈥� Winn said. 鈥淲e had the Cadillac, now we鈥檙e down to Chevy.鈥�
San Joaquin County has administered roughly 120,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Of those who have received the vaccine, 26.7% are white residents, 9.6% are Latinx, another 9.6% are Asian American, and 3.4% are Black. About 47% marked 鈥渙ther鈥� or 鈥渦nknown,鈥� which means they don鈥檛 identify with any listed race or ethnicity, or they declined to or did not state their race and ethnicity.
At 41%, Latinx residents make up the largest portion of the county鈥檚 demographics, and have also been among the hardest hit by COVID-19. About 15% of the county are Asian Americans, 6.6% are Black and 32.7% are white.
Blue Shield says it鈥檚 working out kinks along the way and will take full management responsibility of the state鈥檚 vaccine network by the end of March.
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