Coronavirus update: Equity gap is closing, but Valley counties still near bottom of state

State officials in early March directed 40% of available COVID-19 vaccine doses to disadvantaged communities in the bottom quarter of its Healthy Places Index, many of which are in the San Joaquin Valley, in an effort to close a wide equity gap in areas with greater disparities in health care, education and other socioeconomic factors.

While that gap has narrowed and the number of doses administered per 100,000 residents is up in counties across the state, those in the central San Joaquin Valley still are well behind when it comes to the number of vaccine doses administered per 100,000 residents.

Kings County, which in early March ranked last among 58 counties in California, still is at the bottom of the state, according to the Los Angeles Times vaccine tracker. The positive is there have been 21,018.2 doses of coronavirus vaccine administered per 100,000, up from 9,586.5.

Fresno County is 38th, up one spot. It has administered 34.053.3 doses per 100,000 residents, up from 17,972.3.

In the central San Joaquin Valley, Merced County made the biggest jump, up six spots to 48. It has administered 29,226.8 doses, up from 13,524.5.

But the California Department of Public Health did report on Wednesday that communities in the bottom quartile in its Healthy Places Index have now received nearly 3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses (2,985,508), which is 19.6% of the more than 15.5 million doses administered in the state.

Quartile 4, the communities with the most healthy conditions, have administered more than 4.6 million vaccine doses or 30.5%, a gap of 10.9 points.

Three weeks ago, 17% of the doses administered were in Quartile 1 while 34% were in Quartile 4, a gap of 17 points.

A breakdown of the Healthy Places Index Quartiles:

Quartile 1

Partially vaccinated: 1,146,134; 14.2%

Fully vaccinated: 967,175; 12.0%

Quartile 2

Partially vaccinated: 1,186,612; 15.0%

Fully vaccinated: 1,242,259; 15.7%

Quartile 3

Partially vaccinated: 1,232,693; 16.0%

Fully vaccinated: 1,464,034; 19.0%

Quartile 4

Partially vaccinated: 1,327,165; 17.5%

Fully vaccinated: 1,707,050; 22.5%

Partially vaccinated are individuals who have received one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine and the fully vaccinated are individuals who have received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Central San Joaquin Valley case updates

Fresno County public health officials reported 86 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing its total to 98,362. There were no new deaths reported by the county, the total 1,571.

The number of COVID-19 patients in county hospitals was down by two to 140 and the number of patients in intensive care units was down by four to 25.

Elsewhere in the central San Joaquin Valley:

Kings County

• 14 new cases; 22,546 total
• 0 new deaths; 239 total

Madera County

• 10 new cases; 15,831 total
• 0 new deaths; 231 total

Mariposa County

• 1 new case; 406 total
• 0 new deaths; 7 total

Merced County

• 42 new cases; 30,340 total
• 1 new death; 431 total

Tulare County

• 23 new cases; 48,901 total
• 1 new death; 802 total

Across the state, there were 1,955 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported on Wednesday by the California Department of Public Health with the total since the start of the pandemic rising to 3,551,056.

There also were 254 new coronavirus-related fatalities. That total is now 56,850.

This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 5:13 PM.