California Opens Vaccinations to Everyone 65 and Older, as Hospitals Struggle With COVID-19 Surge

Californians 65 and older can start receiving COVID-19 vaccines immediately with the state's decision to widely expand its coronavirus immunization program partly to contain a surge in cases, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . The announcement follows federal guidance released Tuesday recommending that states issue shots to a broad spectrum of older adults, who are most vulnerable to getting sick, requiring hospitalization and intensive care, and dying. Although some Bay Area counties are making vaccines available right away, other counties and healthcare providers said they are unable to implement the new guidance without additional doses. Public health officials said inoculating the older population will not immediately affect the surge, but it could help alleviate some of the stress on healthcare services within several weeks. "The way that we're going to impact the surge is by prioritizing the older age groups," said California Department of Public Health Director Tomás Aragón. Robert Wachter with the University of California, San Francisco Department of Medicine said the new policy is sensible, as previous plans to offer the next round of doses to more narrowly defined groups based on exposure risk and serious illness were excessively complicated. He added that California must now contend with "a very, very large group of eligible people who are going to be clamoring for their vaccines."