March 17, 2021 LordRunar/iStock State health officials say 42 of California’s 58 counties have advanced into the second-highest Red Tier in the Blueprint for a Safer Economy recovery plan. That represents nearly 88-percent of the state’s population. The state’s vaccine equity metric allows a county to qualify for the Red Tier if they average less than ten new cases a day for every 100-thousand residents. The prior threshold was seven. The vaccine equity metric refers to the two-million vaccinations that have so far been administered across the state’s hardest-hit communities. There are still 11 counties stuck in the most restrictive Purple Tier.