California’s 16-member medical panel of experts has recommended that the next round of vaccines goes to teachers, first responders and grocery and restaurant workers; this group makes up a significant portion of the state's essential workers.
This new decision comes as ICUs in California are overflowing, and COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are soaring to staggering heights. On average, two people an hour are now dying of COVID-19. Marin County has reached 0% ICU capacity and the Bay Area has fallen below the state's 15% ICU capacity threshold, triggering a broad stay-at-home order.
“We’ve got to figure who we’re going to prioritize," Dr. Oliver Brooks, co-chairman of the panel tells NBCLA.
Additionally, it was reported Wednesday that there's a dangerous nursing shortage in California, with Governor Newsom suggesting that the state may have to look overseas.
The nearly six million people who fall into the three categories makes up about half of California’s designated essential workers. The panel chose these three groups based on their “societal impact," measuring the workers risks of contracting the virus and spreading it in the community as well as the economic impact of their jobs, and equity, to ensure that low-income workers who live and work in high-risk communities are included.
The categories are:
- 1.4 million education and child care providers; a category that includes preschools, K-12 and higher education, including trade schools
- 1 million emergency services providers; police, firefighters, those who provide child and youth services, shelters, social services for the elderly and those with disabilities, the criminal justice system and businesses that provide goods used by safety workers
- 3.4 million food and agriculture workers; those working in food and bars, farmworkers, grocers, bakers and butchers, those who work in plant nurseries, florists, sawmill, community food services and pharmacies
Despite the designation, the panel acknowledges that there won’t be enough vaccine available for everyone in the three groups until next spring. Officials expect to receive two million doses by year's end, four million by the end of January and more than 20 million by the end of April, according to NBCLA. That means the panel will have to decide priority even within this "Phase 1B" group.
“We’ll be grappling with trying to determine criteria that can be used practically and efficiently to sort between worthy recipients of scarce vaccine, whether that’s using age or medical condition or other factors to... let the highest-risk priority go first,” Dr. Robert Schechter, co-chairman of the expert panel and chief of the California Department of Public Health's Immunizations Branch said.