Starting March 15, two groups of younger, high-risk Californians — people with disabilities and people with severe underlying conditions — will be able to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, California officials said Friday.
These groups include between 4 to 6 million people, said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. That will bring the number of Californians eligible for vaccines to about 17 to 19 million around March 15.
The underlying conditions that will result in vaccine eligibility on March 15 include cancer, chronic kidney at stage 4 or above, chronic pulmonary disease, Down syndrome, a weakened immune system from a solid organ transplant, sickle cell disease, heart conditions, severe obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
People will have to show some verification for their condition, but officials are still determining what exactly that will entail.
“I want the disability community to know, we’ve heard you, and we’re going to do more and better to provide access, even with the scarcity,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday morning when he visited the mass vaccination site at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.
Ghaly said the reason the two newly eligible groups are not getting access immediately is because there is still very limited vaccine supply, and because it will take some time to iron out details such as how verification for medical conditions will work. There is already not enough vaccine coming to the state to immunize everyone who is currently eligible according to state guidelines — about 13 million health care workers, nursing home residents and workers, people 65 and over, and workers in the education, food and agriculture and emergency services sectors. Some counties are not even vaccinating all eligible groups due to supply constraints.
“I am grateful that they committed to a time frame, and if they are estimating the number to be that big (4 million to 6 million more) that is a very good sign,” said Andrew Imparato, who serves on a state vaccine advisory committee and is executive director of Disability Rights California.
However, Imparato questioned the decision to wait until March 15.
“If we can move that date up as vaccine supplies ramp up, that would be my preference,” he said. “But today’s announcement is a huge step forward from where the state was on February 2.”
Newsom also said the state will on Friday afternoon release statewide vaccination demographic data for the first time.
“It will show what we have been previewing for some time: that with the first allocation of vaccines predominantly going to health care workers, that is not truly representative of the demographics in the state,” Newsom said. “We have work to do as a state to do more and do better to reach out to our diverse communities.”
At least four Bay Area counties have already released vaccination demographic data in the last few weeks — Contra Costa, San Mateo, Alameda and Santa Clara. The local data shows that so far, white and Asian residents are getting vaccinated in significantly higher numbers than Black and Latino residents. Part of that is because the groups that have been vaccinated so far — health care workers, nursing home residents and staff, and people 65 and older — are disproportionately white and Asian, local health officials have said.
Rickey Fairley, a 67-year-old Black man who lives in the Bayview Hunters Point area and works as a security guard at the de Young Museum, said he called his doctor a few months ago to learn more about how to get the coronavirus vaccine. But he never heard back.
“No one knew what to do,” Fairley said, sounding exasperated.
Then, Friday morning, a day before his 68th birthday, Fairley unexpectedly received an email telling him he could come get vaccinated for free, without insurance, just a few blocks away from his house.
He said he “jumped out of bed” and rushed over to the Southeast Health Center, where tents were propped up outside and lines snaked around the block. Fairley was vaccinated shortly thereafter, calling it “a blessing.”
“I feel a lot better. I’m still going to wear my mask, but I feel a little more comfortable,” he said. “I’m just glad to be able to get vaccinated.”
Chronicle staff writers Nanette Asimov, Meghan Bobrowsky and Michael Williams contributed to this report.
Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
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