Californians 65 and older now eligible for the vaccine
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY), More people in the state of California are now eligible for the vaccine.
Wednesday Governor Gavin Newsom announced that people ages 65 and older are now part of the states top priority list.
It’s part of the state's latests effort to speed up the vaccine distribution process.
According to the Imperial County Public Health Department, people that fall in the age group are now in phase 1b group of tier one.
Meanwhile, the county health department said the state has approved to allow counties to use second dose vaccines as first doses.
“They’re going to free up some of the vaccine allocations that were set aside for the second doses and allow us to use it for the first doses," said Dr. Stephen Munday, ICPHD health officer.
"This is based on the fact that number one, we realized that a percentage of the people who were eligible for a vaccine in whatever tier they were in , decided to not get vaccinated therefore there are vaccines for additional people," said Munday.
In addition, California added more people to the list of phase 1b, which includes people who work in education, child care, emergency services, and food and agriculture.
Tune in to 13 On Your Side at 10:00 p.m. as the county talks about how they're going to get vaccines to the elderly.
