Coronavirus update: California to receive 320,100 doses in first Johnson & Johnson shipment

The first shipments of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to California will be a little short of projections, but still will boost the supply headed to California by about 20%.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has referred to the single-shot vaccine as a “game-changer,” said last week that the state expected to receive around 380,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

It will be 320,100, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that is more than any state – Texas is second with 219,200 and Florida is third with 175,100 – and coupled with first- and second-dose shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines will add more than 1.9 million vaccine doses to be distributed to vaccine providers including county health departments and hospital systems.

There have been more than 12.1 million vaccine doses including first and second doses shipped to California and more than 11.1 million delivered to vaccine providers in the state, according to the CDC, with 9,087,899 doses administered. About 16.0% of the population has received one dose of vaccine and 6.9% have been fully vaccinated with either the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require two doses 21 and 28 days apart, respectively.

Central San Joaquin Valley counties continue to lag behind others in the state administering vaccine doses, though.

Three of the six counties in the region rank in the 50s in doses per 100,000 residents with Kings County at the bottom and Fresno County ranks highest at only 39th of the 58 counties in the state, according to the Los Angeles Times’ vaccine tracker …

58 – Kings County, 9,586.5 per 100,000

54 – Merced County, 13,524.5

51 – Mariposa County, 15,028.5

46 – Tulare County, 15,993.8

40 – Madera County, 17,294.0

39 – Fresno County, 17,972.3

There are several other Valley counties toward the bottom of that list, as well. Kern County checks in at No. 53 with 14,879.2 doses administered per 100,000 residents, San Joaquin County is No. 45 with 16,410.5 and Stanislaus County is No. 44 with 16,865.9.

Latest updates from the central San Joaquin Valley

Fresno County public health officials reported 155 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, with a total of 95,548. The 155 new cases came from 2,902 tests, a positivity rate of 5.3%.

There were eight new COVID-19-related deaths bringing the total to 1,451.

The number of coronavirus patients in county hospitals also declined by 18 to 205 and the number in intensive care units fell by three to 39.

Updates from the weekend in the central San Joaquin Valley …

Kings County

• 22 new cases; 22,082 total
• 0 new deaths; 220 total

Madera County

• 73 new cases; 15429 total
• 5 new deaths; 214 total

Mariposa County

• 0 new cases; 395 total
• 0 new deaths; 7 total

Merced County

• 176 new cases; 29,147 total
• 3 new deaths; 400 total

Tulare County

• 144 new cases; 48,013 total
• 3 new deaths; 761 total

In California, there were 3,516 new confirmed coronavirus cases reported on Monday by the California Department of Public Health and a total of 3,479,078 since the start of the pandemic.

The 7-day positivity rate is 2.3% and the 14-day positivity rate is 2.6%.

There also were 215 new deaths, with a total of 52,194.

FDA approves at-home COVID-19 test

The FDA granted an emergency use authorization to an at-home coronavirus test on Monday, allowing an individual with a prescription to rapidly collect and test their sample without sending it to a lab for analysis.

The Quidel QuickVue At-Home COVID-19 Test uses self-collected anterior nasal swabs for individuals ages 14 and older or individuals ages 8 and older with swabs collected by an adult. The test is authorized for individuals suspected of COVID-19 by their healthcare provider within the first six days symptoms appear.

“The FDA continues to prioritize the availability of more at-home testing options in response to the pandemic,” Dr. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health said, in a statement.

“The QuickVue At-Home COVID-19 Test is another example of the FDA working with test developers to bring important diagnostics to the public.”