Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state has reached a major milestone in the pandemic on Tuesday morning at La Clínica de La Raza’s pop-up vaccination side in Oakland – the state has administered more doses than any other in the country.
California has administered 48 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, 18 million more than the next highest state, Texas. That puts the state’s vaccination rate at over 80% of all eligible recipients receiving at least one dose.
With the FDA’s full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for people 16 and up, the effort will continue to reach communities with lower vaccination rates amid the threat of the Delta variant, and other new variants cropping up every day.
"This is a momentous occasion," said Newsom. The numbers are even higher in the Bay Area, he added. "It’s done even better on the local level."
According to Newsom, the state has over last two weeks seen on average 600,000 doses administered, for five straight weeks, an average of 500,000. The new rate 40% higher this last week than the week before 4th of July.
And those vaccination rates have a direct impact on the number of COVID-19 positive cases. As of right now, California’s COVID-19 positivity rate is at 4.6%, the 7th lowest positivity rate in the country. Florida, which is dealing with a variety of restrictions, including the prohibition of mandating masks at schools, is at a cumulative positivity rate of 20.3%.
Going forward, Newsom said efforts will be not only on outreach to communities with low vaccination rates, but also targeting rampant vaccine misinformation pervasive online and on social media.
"The state is not being passive in that effort," said Newsom. "We have a team of people working day in and day out battling against that misinformation."
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