Local residents who are in Phase 1B Tier 1, including those 65 and older, are recommended to fill out the vaccine availability form

WOODLAND, CA (MPG) - As part of the State of California’s revised plan to effectively and efficiently increase COVID-19 vaccine distribution, residents age 65 and older have been prioritized in Phase 1B Tier 1. Currently, Yolo County is in Phase 1A Tiers 2 and 3 and will likely move into Phase 1B in the coming weeks once additional doses are received from the State of California. However, Yolo County will run out of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the next week without more doses coming from the State.

The State may further revise its vaccine distribution guidelines and reprioritize groups in the future. The County understands that this may be confusing and asks that residents stay patient; the County is working as quickly as possible to meet the needs of residents while also adhering to changing and unpredictable State revisions and prioritization lists.

Multi County Entities (MCEs), such as Sutter Health, UC Davis Health, Dignity Health and Kaiser Permanente, are also assisting with administering the COVID-19 vaccine. The County currently anticipates that individuals 65 and older will be able to get their vaccines through their primary care provider if they are part of a large health care system, such as Kaiser Permanente or Dignity Health. As soon as Phase 1A is complete, the County will be holding vaccination clinics for older residents who are not members of large health care systems or do not have medical insurance. The State also plans to launch a text-and-email notification system so Californians can keep track of when they’re eligible to sign up for their shot.

Local residents who are in Phase 1B Tier 1, including those 65 and older, are recommended to fill out the vaccine availability form, which is available in English, Spanish and Russian, at: http://bit.ly/VaccineAvailability. The information that residents provide will help the County organize and schedule vaccine clinics accordingly. Yolo County will be sharing additional vaccine distribution information for Phase 1B once finalized.

“The County is working hard to secure the needed vaccine doses from the State. However, the State’s expanded eligibility is incongruent with the current reality of extremely limited vaccine supply. When everybody is a priority, nobody is a priority. Pushing counties into Phase 1B and expanding Phase 1B Tier 1 to include everyone 65 and older at a time when Yolo County doesn’t even have enough vaccine to finish Phase 1A is creating unreasonable expectations among the public,” said Yolo County’s Public Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson. “Yolo County is administering doses as quickly as possible. We will begin vaccinating those 65 and older and others in Phase 1B as soon as we finish vaccinating the several thousand remaining health care workers prioritized in Phase 1A. When we do begin vaccinating in Phase 1B, we will have to sub-prioritize residents because there are tens of thousands of county residents who are 65 and older, and only a few hundred doses coming in each week from the State.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced changes to its vaccine plan, encouraging states to expand the pool of those eligible to receive the vaccine to individuals 65 and older. During the initial stages of vaccine distribution, priorities are set at the federal and state levels by the CDC and the California Department of Public Health.

For more information about Yolo County’s COVID-19 vaccine and distribution process, visit https://www.yolocounty.org/coronavirus-vaccine. Residents can call Yolo 2-1-1 for resource information. Follow Yolo County on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/YoloCounty or Twitter at: https://twitter.com/YoloCountyCA.