SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — It’s the first of April which means people ages 50 and older can finally receive the COVID-19 vaccine, but that’s doesn’t mean they actually will.
The state is getting 2.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines next week, which is less than the 2.5 million doses that were administered last week. Governor Newsom says the smaller shipment is due to manufacturers not creating enough vaccines to meet demand.
Sacramento County received 33,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines the night before eligibility opened for all Californians 50 and older.
"That's 11,700 doses of Pfizer, 9200 doses of Burnett and 12,100 doses of Johnson and Johnson. So, big increase in the J&J this week. And it looks like the projection is that will be fairly flat but similar over the next few weeks. " Rachel Allen Sacramento Public Health Official said.
Sacramento County Public Health officials say the supply is not enough to cover the increased number of people eligible in the 50 plus category. That is why making an appointment is so difficult right now. Officials say the county will likely face the same problem in two weeks when all Californians 16 and older become eligible.
“That is why we hope that we will see an increase in vaccine allocation especially if Pfizer is the only one that will be available for those 16 and 17. We're hoping that we'll have enough of that to be able to meet the demand. But it will depend on the allocations that we get,” said Dr. Olivia Kasirye from Sacramento County Public Health.
The Governor says at the rate at which the vaccine rollout is going in California, people will have to be patient.
“It’s going to take a number of months for us to exhausted that demand,” Newsom said.
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