Newsom gives timeline for all Californians 16 and older to receive vaccine

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KION) Gov. Gavin Newsom has laid out a timeline for when he expects all Californians aged 16 and older could be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.

At a press conference, the governor said he expects there will be enough vaccine supply within the next 5.5 weeks to open eligibility to any resident aged 16 and older. That amounts to an additional 32 million people.

Santa Cruz County Deputy Health Officer Dr. David Ghilarducci said he is looking forward to a move to an age-based system.

“Age-based, I think, makes a lot of sense for us because it’s something that’s easy for people to understand, it’s easy to verify. All these categories about occupation and health conditions can be very difficult to screen for,” Ghilarducci said.

Ghilarducci said having the supply to handle this is key in a race against variants. If there’s not enough supply, that can create confusion and frustration for the public.

He said he is hopeful that the AstraZeneca two-shot vaccine will get approved soon and they’ll be able to give that out.

We’re told teams are preparing to triple rate of vaccination for when more vaccine comes

Ghilarducci told KION Santa Cruz County plans to allow people age 50 and older to get vaccinated by April 1.

Representatives of the California Department of Public Health said they could not give any more details about future vaccine eligibility.