Riverside County set to receive more doses with California’s new vaccine system

Some big changes are expected for California’s pandemic response. Governor Newsom’s administration said that a portion of vaccine doses will be dedicated to the state’s most vulnerable neighborhoods 

News Channel 3’s Dani Romero has more  on which communities would be prioritized and how that will work. 

Juan Rodriguez is relieved to finally be getting his COVID-19 shot. 

“It feels good," said Juan Rodriguez. "I am happy to get it. I was kinda nervous a little bit but now I am excited that mostly everyone can get it.” 

“We have to go bolder and bigger," said Governor Gavin Newsom.  

California will begin setting aside 40% of all vaccine doses for the state’s most vulnerable neighborhoods in an effort to inoculate people most at risk from the coronavirus and get the state’s economy open more quickly.

“Let me be more precise that disproportionately has fallen on the latino community in the state of California," said Newsom.

Newsom’s goal is to get 2 million people vaccinated in vulnerable communities where there are many people of color and essential workers.  

“We have 35% in that lowest quartile when the state looks at it," said Michael Osur, Assistant Director of Public Health for Riverside County. "So hypothetically, we should get more."

The county has targeted areas including Desert Hot Springs, North Palm Springs parts of Indio, Thermal, Mecca, Coachella and the Salton Sea. 

Osur told us its unclear how much more vaccine will be allocated to the county and when. 

“We're hoping it would increase substantially the number of vaccines we're getting because we have been targeting those areas with our mobile teams for quite some time," said Osur. "We started with 2 mobile teams and now we have 5 mobile teams.” 

In Riverside County, they have ramped up their efforts to vaccinate communities of color compared to the state, 21 percent of the Hispanic community has been vaccinated.

“Our vaccination in those lowest quartiles are not where we want it to be but its better than the state and better than it was three weeks ago," said Osur.

For more information about Riverside County vaccination appointments, CLICK HERE.