California will open COVID-19 community vaccination sites in Oakland and Los Angeles in mid-February as part of a pilot partnership with the federal government, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Biden administration announced on Wednesday. The sites, located at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum and California State University, Los Angeles, will be jointly run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services.FEMA will provide staffing and operational help for the project, which is part of the Biden administration’s effort to set up 100 vaccination sites nationwide. The partnership will also include two mobile vaccination clinics.A news release noted that the two California locations were selected for being in diverse communities with high numbers of essential works — places that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. They are slated to open to eligible members of the public on Feb. 16. The announcement came an hour before Newsom was set to give an update on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s vaccine distribution efforts. Check back here for a livestream of the virtual briefing at 10 a.m.On Tuesday, California’s top health official, Dr. Mark Ghaly, said the latest data showed a “positive trend” on key coronavirus metrics like hospitalizations and test positivity rates. The state’s 14-day positivity rate has dropped to 7.2%, Ghaly said, down from over 12% in January.In the past 14 days, COVID-19 hospitalizations have decreased 28.8% and COVID-19-related ICU admissions went down by 18.9%.In another spot of good news, Ghaly said the projected remaining ICU capacity for the state’s five regions is expected to be well over 15% as of next month. The 15% marker was the threshold the state previously used to trigger stay-at-home orders.Still, Dr. Ghaly warned against people from different households meeting for Super Bowl parties or Lunar New Year celebrations. He also said the state is continuing to monitor and boost surveillance of new variants of the virus.”The chance for another surge in California is real,” he said after a reporter question about the variants. “It’s still circulating, COVID is, in our communities. Our case rates are down, but they’re not low.”Meanwhile, more than 3.5 million vaccines have been reported as administered in California, Ghaly said. The state has selected Blue Shield of California to be an outside administrator to speed up vaccinations across the state. Yolanda Richardson, secretary of the Government Operations Agency, will spearhead operations and delivery.State officials have begun to promote a notification system called My Turn where Californians can sign up to learn when they’re next in line to get vaccinated. The pilot tool will eventually allow people across the state to schedule appointments.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
California will open COVID-19 community vaccination sites in Oakland and Los Angeles in mid-February as part of a pilot partnership with the federal government, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Biden administration announced on Wednesday.
The sites, located at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum and California State University, Los Angeles, will be jointly run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
FEMA will provide staffing and operational help for the project, which is part of the Biden administration’s effort to set up 100 vaccination sites nationwide.
The partnership will also include two mobile vaccination clinics.
A news release noted that the two California locations were selected for being in diverse communities with high numbers of essential works — places that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. They are slated to open to eligible members of the public on Feb. 16.
The announcement came an hour before Newsom was set to give an update on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s vaccine distribution efforts.
Check back here for a livestream of the virtual briefing at 10 a.m.
On Tuesday, California’s top health official, Dr. Mark Ghaly, said the latest data showed a “positive trend” on key coronavirus metrics like hospitalizations and test positivity rates.
The state’s 14-day positivity rate has dropped to 7.2%, Ghaly said, down from over 12% in January.
In the past 14 days, COVID-19 hospitalizations have decreased 28.8% and COVID-19-related ICU admissions went down by 18.9%.
In another spot of good news, Ghaly said the projected remaining ICU capacity for the state’s five regions is expected to be well over 15% as of next month. The 15% marker was the threshold the state previously used to trigger stay-at-home orders.
Still, Dr. Ghaly warned against people from different households meeting for Super Bowl parties or Lunar New Year celebrations.
He also said the state is continuing to monitor and boost surveillance of new variants of the virus.
“The chance for another surge in California is real,” he said after a reporter question about the variants. “It’s still circulating, COVID is, in our communities. Our case rates are down, but they’re not low.”
Meanwhile, more than 3.5 million vaccines have been reported as administered in California, Ghaly said.
The state has selected Blue Shield of California to be an outside administrator to speed up vaccinations across the state. Yolanda Richardson, secretary of the Government Operations Agency, will spearhead operations and delivery.
State officials have begun to promote a notification system called My Turn where Californians can sign up to learn when they’re next in line to get vaccinated. The pilot tool will eventually allow people across the state to schedule appointments.
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