Vaccine supply remains limited — Miller Report for Jan. 25

Editor’s note: Dr. William Miller, chief of staff at the Adventist Health Mendocino Coast Hospital, is writing weekly reports concerning the COVID-19 situation on the Mendocino Coast. We are pleased to be running his health column, with details on the medical fight against the pandemic. The views shared in this weekly column are those of the author, Dr. William Miller, and do not necessarily represent those of The Mendocino Voice or of Adventist Health.

According to the California Health Department official overseeing the vaccination distribution for California, the State’s supply of COVID vaccines that it received initially from the feds has been mostly distributed.  This supply was from the stock pile that Pfizer and Moderna had built up in the months awaiting FDA approval.  Further supply will depend on production capability.  California hopes to receive about 400,000 doses per week as production rolls forward.  However, for the remaining 8 million Californians who qualify for vaccination in top tiers, that will take 20 weeks or five months.  As reported previously, the current strategy is to achieve enough vaccination of the general public by September so that when we enter next winter there won’t be the same surge of cases that we are seeing around the state this winter.