California changes reopening criteria again, allocating 40% of vaccines to poorest areas
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration on Wednesday evening announced changes to California’s tiered reopening system that will make it easier to reopen businesses and increase pressure on school districts to get children back to campus.
Under the new system, California will allocate 40% of its COVID-19 vaccine doses to low-income communities across 400 state postal codes, mainly in Los Angeles County, the Inland Empire and the Central Valley. Once 2 million of the roughly 8 million eligible residents of those communities are vaccinated, the state will adjust the rate of coronavirus cases necessary for counties to move from the most restrictive purple level to the red level. Instead of 7 cases per 100,000, it will drop to 10 cases per 100,000 – making it easier to reopen restaurants, gyms, museums, cinemas and other businesses indoors with limited capacity, Barbara Feder Ostrov of CalMatters, Ana Ibarra, Lauren Hepler and I report.
Once 4 million people are vaccinated in these low-income communities – defined as those with low state scores Healthy Places Index, which measures criteria such as income, education, park access, air pollution and housing – the state will adjust the threshold to enter the orange and yellow levels.
Administration officials said 1.6 million doses had already been administered in these low-income communities, and it could take about two weeks to hit the 2 million mark needed to adjust case rates. Currently, 87% of the state’s population lives in purple level counties.
Officials have said they may also change guidelines for reopening businesses sector by sector in the coming weeks. Recent lawsuits by restaurateurs, salon owners and craft brewers have alleged unfair treatment.
The new vaccine strategy follows weeks of Newsom’s focus on developing an “equity framework.” African Americans and Latino Californians have been hit hardest throughout the pandemic, with the highest levels of hospitalizations and deaths linked to COVID-19. They were also vaccinated at lower rates.
The announcement also came a few hours before the first anniversary of Newsom declaring a state of emergency due to COVID-19. With the governor facing a recall Almost certain to qualify for the ballot, his challenge is to move the state forward fast enough for people to see improvement, but not fast enough to jeopardize its progress as new strains of the virus emerge. What the governor is probably hoping to avoid at all costs: that things get out of hand as they did in July and December, prompting him to shut down the state for the second and third time.
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The net result of the coronavirus: California had 3,484,963 confirmed cases (+ 0.1% compared to the day before) and 52,775 deaths (+ 0.5% compared to the day before), according to a CalMatters tracker.
Also: CalMatters regularly updates this pandemic timeline by following the daily state actions. And we are track state coronavirus hospitalizations by county.
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Other stories you should know
1. Analyze the state of the state
The Newsom administration also announced on Wednesday that the governor will deliver the state’s annual state address on March 9. This is the last date in California history – never before has a governor given the state-of-the-state address after February, according to documents held by the California State Library. It will also be unusual for Newsom to deliver it remotely from Los Angeles County in the evening, rather than to the state legislature in Sacramento during the day. I spoke with CalMatters political columnist Dan Walters, who has covered state politics for almost 60 years, about the significance of these changes.
Me: “What do you think of the calendar? “
Dan: “Prime-time television, prime-time television!” Since the legislature can’t meet anyway, you might as well get the most out of TV by having it in Los Angeles.
Me: “I wonder if he was waiting for the speech until other schools announce their reopening.”
Dan: “He couldn’t really deliver a message about the state of the state when the whole school problem was still unresolved. … It must have the indicators pointing upwards: COVID infections down. Schools are reopening. The economy is doing well. A bright future awaits us. And you can give me all the credit… and not vote for the recall. “
2. Where is the head of the CA schools?
Where’s Tony Thurmond? The state’s top education official has been conspicuously absent at events touting California’s plan to reopen public schools – which lawmakers will officially vote on today – and has played a limited role in the negotiations, raising questions about how effectively he uses office power, Reports by Laurel Rosenhall of CalMatters. In other states, education officials have more visibly guided schools through the pandemic: in Connecticut, for example, Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona played a practical role in negotiating with unions to reopen schools before President Joe Biden appointed him as the new US Secretary of Education. But Thurmond maintains he has worked hard behind the scenes to help schools.
- Thurmond: “I recognize the boundaries of my office, but I pretend there aren’t any and just get into the conversation. … I feel like I have done all I can, and even more. I feel like I have gone beyond what my position allows me to do.
3. Is the California Exodus Real?
You’ve heard of the California Exodus before. But fears that Californians – especially the wealthiest – might be leaving the state in droves could be greatly exaggerated, according to data released Thursday by the California Policy Lab, a research arm of the University of California. The lab found that “the pandemic hasn’t propelled people out of California so much as it has moved them inside.” Although the number of people leaving San Francisco in 2020 increased 649% from the previous year, about 80% of those roughly 38,000 people remained in the state, Reports by Lauren Hepler of CalMatters. And because so much is happening at the same time during the pandemic, it is difficult to assess how permanent the transitions are. As Lauren points out, the remote work crowd is just starting to face the prospect of pay cuts that come with moving to lower-cost locations.
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Diversify Californian doctors: Research shows we need to create a larger pool of competitive medical school applicants who reflect the diversity of the state, write to Janet Coffman and Dr. Alicia Fernández of USCF.
Other things are worth your time
MP Sydney Kamlager declares victory in the race for the seat of the State Senate. // Los Angeles Times
San Francisco is at the top of the list of cities donate money to Newsom’s booster. // Chronicle of San Francisco
San Diego County Quietly Allows Court Officers, Judges, and Lawyers to get vaccinated. // San Diego Union-Tribune
30,000 on the waiting list to be vaccinated in Contra Costa County. // East Bay Hours
Federal government charges inmate, Fresno man in the latest California unemployment fraud lawsuits. // Sacramento Bee
Majority of white areas got more money for PPP business loans than Latin American regions, according to a UCLA study. // Los Angeles Times
After Nancy Pelosi, who? San Francisco plays guessing games. // Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles is eligible for federal assistance to house the homeless in hotels. But he didn’t ask for it. // Los Angeles Times
Fresno has the most people per household from any major American city. // Fresno Bee
San Francisco has struggled to stem the fentanyl epidemic. Can the new behavioral health czar change that? // Chronicle of San Francisco
Lady Gaga’s French Bulldog has been stolen. Dogs are also targeted by thieves in the Bay Area. // Chronicle of San Francisco
Until tomorrow.
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