In an effort to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations, California is expanding the pool of who can administer them, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press briefing Monday. The newly authorized vaccine providers include dentists, pharmacists and paramedics.
The change comes as California is still working to vaccinate people in the first phase, made up of health care workers and people in congregate care facilities. So far, 783,476 doses have been administered.
Newsom also said vaccines at risk of going to waste can now be given to people in the later distribution categories, if "there's no one queued up" in the currently sanctioned tiers.
As a small measure of good news, the rate of hospitalization over the past two weeks went up by 6%, Newsom said, one of the smallest increases since the surge kicked into high gear. But the governor said officials are not "overly enthusiastic" about the lower numbers, as it's still too early to rule out an additional surge coming out of the last days of the holidays.
The positivity rate in the state is now at 13.7% over the last 14 days, a dip from Friday but still in the upper reaches seen over the course of the pandemic. Intensive care unit capacity in the Bay Area region is at 0.7%, a far cry from the 15% the state wants to see before it lifts the stay-at-home order.
The state is also reviewing preliminary results of a survey conducted in response to reports of health care workers declining to take the vaccine. According to Newsom, the results show only 2% of health care workers have declined or postponed getting their shot.
When asked about the current effort in Congress to again impeach President Trump, Newsom said he supports it, but that it isn't his focus right now.
"My focus, candidly, is on you and your family and your safety as it relates to issues associated with getting us through this very challenging wave in this pandemic," he said.