Newsom: 40% of vaccines set aside for 400 zip codes disproportionately impacted by COVID-19

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, Calif. (KION) Gov. Gavin Newsom discussed health inequalities in communities disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic at a news conference in San Joaquin County Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the state announced that it will start setting aside 40% of vaccine doses for people living in vulnerable areas to make sure the people most at risk have access.

The state identified 400 zip codes where the doses will be distributed. See if your zip code is one of the 400 using the CalMatters search tool below.

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Newsom said the state considers 25 factors to determine which of four quartiles a zip code or census area falls into, and the lowest quartile is considered the most impacted. He said Latino populations especially have been disproportionately impacted and said 55% of cases are in the Latino community.

During the update, he said households earning less than $40,000 per year are two times more impacted by COVID-19 than households earning more than $120,000, but households earning more than $120,000 have had two times more access to vaccines.

Currently, Newsom said 70% of vaccines are distributed based on age eligibility and 30% are distributed based on exposure due to employment.

The Blueprint for a Safer Economy, which splits counties into tiers and determines how sectors of the economy can reopen, will also be modified to include metrics for when vaccines have been distributed to the hardest-hit areas. The Governor's Office said this will allow for slightly higher adjusted case rate tier thresholds, which he expects will allow counties to reopen faster.

Newsom said the positivity rate in California is currently 2.1%, down from 6.1% 30 days ago. He also said hospital admissions are down by 41% over the last two weeks and ICU admissions are down by 43%.