Blue Shield to roll out new California COVID vaccine system on Monday
Blue Shield will begin its takeover of California’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution system on Monday with the goal of creating a uniform statewide set of eligibility rules and ramping up vaccination to 4 million shots a week by the end of April.
Starting on Monday, all counties will move to uniform eligibility criteria, replacing a hodgepodge of eligibility rules that varied from county to county and sometimes left residents frustrated and confused about when they could receive a vaccine.
The Oakland-based insurance company will also make recommendations to the state on vaccine allocation to better target communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Black, Latino and Pacific Islander residents have been among the hardest hit in the state — Latinos are 55 percent of cases, 39 percent of the population and have received 16 percent of vaccine doses, according to data from the state’s Department of Public Health.
“Our goal is to overcome this pandemic and save lives, and by working together with healthcare providers, local health jurisdictions, state public health officials and others, we can accomplish that daunting task,” Blue Shield of California CEO Paul Markovich said in a company news release. “As the federal government prepares to ramp up the availability of vaccines, we are aiming to build a provider network here in California that is only constrained by the number of vaccines we receive.”
In January, the state averaged 1 million shots per week and is on track to be able to administer 3 million weekly doses by March, depending on supply. Under the new system, the goal is to have the capacity for 4 million weekly shots.
“While supply is still extremely limited, we need to prepare now for a time in the near future when supply increases and hopefully dramatically,” Government Operations Agency Secretary Yolanda Richardson said in a statement.
In the coming month, counties will also transition to a vaccine network system centered on MyTurn.ca.gov. MyTurn will also be piloting single-use registration codes to distribute to disadvantaged or prioritized communities — registration codes aimed at hard-hit Black and Latino neighborhoods have reportedly been shared among lower-priority residents.
Central Valley counties including Kern and San Joaquin are in the first wave of counties to transition into the new statewide vaccine system. The second wave includes large Southern California counties such as Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego. The five-county Bay Area is in the third and final wave, which will begin transitioning into the new system on March 7. Blue Shield will be in charge of the vaccine network in all counties by the end of March.
Residents can register at MyTurn online or by calling 1-833-422-4255 Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., or Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. About one in seven California residents have received at least one vaccine dose so far, and 6 percent are fully vaccinated.