Coronavirus update: More vaccine on way to Fresno; California expands eligibility list
Fresno County received some positive news on Friday, with another 18,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on the way.
State public health officials said they would be expanding the list of residents eligible to receive vaccinations by 4 million to 6 million next month by adding more groups at higher risk of infection and death.
Those with certain cancers, heart, lung, or kidney conditions, as well as the severely disabled and those with Down Syndrome, pregnant women, organ transplant recipients, and the severely obese will be able to receive doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines on March 15.
They will join residents 65 and older and those in essential high-risk jobs that already are eligible to be vaccinated.
California, which was last in the nation in administering COVID-19 vaccines a few weeks ago, has now fully vaccinated 2.7% of its population, according to data from the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. There have been 13.95 doses administered per 100 people, and 10.7% of the population has received at least one shot.
The CDPH on Friday also released data on the race, age, and gender of those that have been vaccinated in the state. The data includes those in groups eligible to be vaccinated to this point.
By race …
- American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.3%
- Asian American: 13.1%
- Black: 2.8%
- Latino: 15.8%
- Multi-Race: 13.9%
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.4%
- White: 32.6%
- Other: 12.3%
- Unknown: 8.7%
By age …
- 0 to 17: 0%
- 18 to 49: 29%
- 50 to 64: 16.7%
- 65-plus: 54.3%
By gender …
- Female: 58.6%
- Male: 41%
- Unknown/undifferentiated: 0.4%
Equity was a question early in the rollout of coronavirus vaccines in the state. To better target working-class communities, officials in California established vaccination sites at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum and Cal State Los Angeles.
A site is to be added in the Central Valley but has not yet been approved.
“In the fight against COVID-19, partnership is key, especially when it comes to reaching Californians in underserved areas,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Feb. 3 statement.
The number of vaccinations is expected to rise in Fresno County next week, with public health officials announcing that the county will be receiving 18,000 vaccine doses after receiving 19,000 this week.
“This is a good second week of having increased allocations,” said Joe Prado, community health manager for the Fresno County Department of Public Health. “We are reaching out to our partners and seeing who’s ready for vaccine, to take some more of the doses.”
The latest allocations are more than double the 8,000 doses the county received in previous weeks.
The latest updates from the Central San Joaquin Valley
Fresno County reported 292 new coronavirus cases in a Friday afternoon update, an increase of almost 150 from the previous day, with the total up to 92,168.
The one-day test positivity rate was up to 13.3%, but there were no new deaths reported, the total staying at 1,291, and the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals decreased by 11 to 346.
There were no new patients in intensive care units, the total at 88.
Here are the latest updates from the CDPH for the Central San Joaquin Valley.
Kings County
- 79 new cases; 21,373 total
- 7-day average 65; 14-day 75
- 5 new deaths; 205 total
Madera County
- 59 new cases; 14,984 total
- 7-day average 40; 14-day 49
- 0 new deaths; 189 total
Mariposa County
- 1 new case; 361 total
- 7-day average 2; 14-day 2
- 0 new deaths; 5 total
Merced County
- 79 new cases; 27,325 total
- 7-day average 99; 14-day 122
- 2 new deaths; 375 total
Tulare County
- 115 new cases; 45,897 total
- 7-day average 131; 14-day 154
- 12 new deaths; 684 total
Statewide, there were 10,059 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 3,381,615. The seven and 14-day averages are 10,450 and 12,548.
There also were 546 new deaths reported by the CDPH, more than the seven and 14-day averages of 425 and 459, and a total of 46,002.
The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, which tracks ahead of the CDPH reports, has the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state at 46,466.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington has projected there will be more than 630,000 deaths by June 1.