Solano County has started vaccinating people 50 and older who do not qualify under any of the categories already used to determine vaccine eligibility, county Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas said. Solano is the first Bay Area county to broaden inoculations to the general population under 65, an expansion that was made possible because demand for the vaccine from other categories has started to level off, Matyas said.
The state has yet to officially make people younger than 65 eligible for vaccination, unless they qualify as an essential worker or have an underlying health condition that puts them at high risk should they contract COVID-19. People with qualifying health conditions were allowed to start making appointments Monday.
Matyas said the county will start vaccinating those who are eligible because of a medical reason soon.
"Our next step will be to align with the governor's request to have everybody 16 and over with an underlying health condition become eligible," he said. "We'll be able to do that, we hope, by the end of the week."
Matyas said he prioritized the 50-and-over group because "the very vast majority of our fatalities, virtually all have been in individuals over the age of 50. And so it made sense to move to that group first. And that still gives us the opportunity to open up to align with the governor's request [to vaccinate those with medical conditions] before the end of this week."
He said the county has been able to move through the eligible tiers relatively quickly because of a close working relationship with hospitals.
"We've been able to actually combine the vaccines we receive in public health with the vaccine that our hospitals receive directly to be able to provide these larger-scale mass vaccination clinics," he said. "And that's really what's allowing this to accelerate."
—Jon Brooks and Peter Arcuni