The California Department of Public Health announced Thursday that all Californians ages 50 and older will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine beginning next Thursday.
Then, just two weeks later, eligibility will expand to everyone 16 and older on April 15. The move comes as state health officials expect supply of vaccine doses to "significantly increase in the coming weeks," a news release said.
"We are even closer to putting this pandemic behind us with today’s announcement and with vaccine supplies expected to increase dramatically in the months ahead," California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said of the expansion.
"I am really excited about this," said Dr. Monica Ghandi, Professor of Medicine and Associate Division Chief of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine at UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital. "It really goes along with what President Biden said today at his first news conference that his administration plans for 200 million people to be given doses in the first 100 days of his administration."
Just last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom made headlines in projecting that all adults in California could be eligible for a shot by May, putting Thursday's announcement ahead of that estimation. President Joe Biden had previously urged all states, territories and tribes to open eligibility to all adults by May 1.
Millions of Californians became vaccine eligible last week, including residents ages 16 to 64 with specific high-risk medical conditions, those with disabilities or illnesses, people in congregate living spaces and transportation workers.
"I think yes, I believe the supply is there," said Dr. Ghandi, referencing the governor's announcement Thursday that any family member, eligible or not, accompanying someone who's eligible to get a vaccine can now get one.
Based on the state's models, officials expect to get another 2.5 million first and second vaccine doses per week in the first half of April, plus an additional 3 million doses in the second half of the month.
However, not everyone will get an appointment and receive a COVID-19 shot immediately. "Even with expanded vaccine supplies, it is expected to take several months for willing Californians to be vaccinated," the state cautioned.
"The light at the end of the tunnel continues to get brighter," Gov. Newsom tweeted Thursday in sharing the news.
As of Thursday, the state has confirmed 3,553,307 cases of the coronavirus with over 57,000 deaths related to COVID-19 complications.
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