Riverside, Kern counties open COVID-19 vaccines to 16 and up - Los Angeles Times

Hundreds of thousands of Californians 16 and older are becoming eligible for COVID-19 vaccines this week as counties and health systems across the state expand eligibility ahead of schedule.

Officials in Riverside and Kern counties made the surprise announcement Monday, as did UC Davis Health in Sacramento.

06, 2021An earlier version of this article said UC Davis Health in Sacramento would offer COVID-19 vaccines to those 16 and older starting Wednesday.

“This is really important news,” Riverside County spokeswoman Brooke Federico said.

San Bernardino County spokeswoman Felisa Cardona said the county has successfully vaccinated hundreds of thousands of residents and has seen new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations decrease rapidly.

In San Bernardino, the Pfizer vaccine is being used at public health sites and state OptumServe sites, Cardona said.

Appointments are available at the Kern County Fairgrounds mass vaccination site this week, officials said, and can be booked through the state’s My Turn system.

“I’m very relieved to know that our public health officials realized that we were able to expand the eligibility before the state’s date of April 15 when they could have decided to just wait the extra week,” Frieson said.

Over the last seven days, Kern County reported an average of 50 COVID-19 new cases per day — a 41% decrease from two weeks ago.

Farther north in Sacramento, officials with UC Davis Health also announced plans to expand vaccine eligibility to residents 16 and older this week.

“Our decision to expand vaccine opportunities stems from the fact that over the past few days, we found that we were not getting enough people from the state’s My Turn website and other places to fill all of our available appointments,” UC Davis Health spokesman Charles Casey said Tuesday.

Last week, the county administered its 1 millionth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“More vaccine is available now, and opening eligibility will move us even further toward our goal of vaccinating the majority of our residents,” said Karen Spiegel, the county’s Second District supervisor.

Although COVID-19 numbers remain significantly lower than during the fall and winter surge, the county is reporting a slight uptick in cases, particularly among residents 18 to 40.

“The expansion of eligibility will allow the last large group of Riverside County adult residents to get vaccinated, and bring us one step closer to herd immunity,” Riverside County public health director Kim Saruwatari said in a statement

Residents ages 16 and 17 are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine but will need to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian to get vaccinated, officials said