On Monday, March 15, San Diego County opened vaccine eligibility to members of the general public with high-risk medical conditions outlined in Phase 1C of the California vaccine rollout plan.
Additional eligible medical conditions were added by the county to Phase 1C last week. These conditions include moderate to severe asthma, high blood pressure and body mass index of overweight or obese.
According to the CDC, using data from the 2010 census, 60.7% of California’s population in 2010 were classified as overweight based on their BMI and 24% were classified as obese.
The additional eligible groups added last week also include those living in congregate residential facilities such as detention centers, homeless shelters and behavioral mental facilities.
San Diego County expanding vaccine eligibility to Phase 1C came alongside President Biden’s announcement on March 11 that he plans to have states open vaccine eligibility to every American over the age of 16 by May 1.
Appointments to receive vaccines remain in limited supply in San Diego County but should become more easily available with the opening of a new high-capacity vaccine clinic in Oceanside and private companies like CVS and stores under the Albertsons umbrella beginning to carry the vaccine in San Diego County.
The one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine also became available in San Diego County earlier this month.
According to the daily COVID-19 report from San Diego County, as of March 15, 439,000 county residents or 16.3% of adults 16 and older in San Diego County have been fully immunized. Additionally, 715,000 San Diegans have received at least one shot of one of the two-dose vaccines.
The county is planning on returning to the red tier on March 17 after the state hit the milestone of vaccinating 2 million people in communities hit hardest by COVID-19. This will allow indoor operations to resume for businesses such as restaurants, movie theaters and gyms. New revisions to California’s tier system will allow amusement parks like SeaWorld San Diego to resume operations at 15% capacity with the county in the red tier on April 1. These revisions will also allow for outdoor sports and live performances to resume starting April 1 with capacity restrictions.
More information about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in San Diego can be found here.
