Healthy people under 50 who are not essential workers likely won’t get vaccinated until this summer. Counties are currently vaccinating health providers, farmworkers, teachers, law enforcement personnel and people over age 65.
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Before the pandemic, 16-year-old Joshua Espinoza was able to visit his family every weekend. But for the last year, time with his mother, father and brother has been limited to quick sessions at his group home to reduce the chances of coronavirus infection.
As of Monday, the 11th grader with severe autism is among an estimated 4.4 million statewide with high-risk medical conditions and disabilities who will join the state’s vaccine priority list, significantly increasing his odds of receiving the doses he needs to once again travel to his family’s home in Paradise Hills.
It has been heartbreakingly clear, said his mother, Maria Espinoza, that her son really, really misses their weekends together.
Gov. Gavin Newsom says his administration has been planning for a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign for months. Why have things gone so wrong for him and his fellow Californians?
Healthy people under 50 who are not essential workers likely won’t get vaccinated until this summer. Counties are currently vaccinating health providers, farmworkers, teachers, law enforcement personnel and people over age 65.
Despite Months to Prep, Why California Lags on COVID Vaccination
No one ever said that distributing a vaccine to tens of millions of Californians spread out across 58 counties in the middle of a pandemic would be easy.
But Gov. Gavin Newsom came pretty close last October.
At a press conference on the 19th, the governor assured the public that California has “long been in the vaccination business.” That projection of confidence came just three days after the CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced the company would seek the regulatory greenlight for its new COVID-19 vaccine. California, the governor said, would be ready.