The first vaccines have arrived in most communities across California. However, the current vaccine supply remains limited and all distribution is coordinated by the State and local county departments of health in alignment with CDC recommendations.
The CDC has made recommendations but left the final decisions on prioritization to each individual state. In the CDC recommendations, colleges and universities (institutions of higher education) are not part of the initial tiered phase of distribution.
California's Governor Newsom has launched his "Vaccinate all 58" Campaign to provide "safe, fair and equitable vaccine for all 58 counties in the state". More details can be found at the Vaccinate all 58 website which states they believe that enough vaccines will be available to vaccinate "most Californians in all 58 counties by Summer 2021."
Currently, the Phase 1A guidelines for vaccine delivery in California includes front-line healthcare staff in hospitals and long-term care facilities and for the residents of long-term care facilities (see the numbers in the second paragraph above). Specific prioritization and implementation has been left to each individual County Health Department. More information can be found at the California Department of Public Health website:
Locally, in Solano County we have received 7,900 doses that are being administered according to the CDC and State Guidelines. Solano County has identified three phases of vaccine distribution with Phase 1 split into three sub-phases.
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If you want to learn more about the two approved vaccines and vaccine distribution there is a compiled list of resources here
At this time, Touro University California is not a Solano County Tier 1 Vaccine Distribution Site nor do we have access to vaccine. We are coordinating with Solano County Public Health to see how we can best assist in distribution. At this time, colleges and universities are not part of the initial phase of distribution in Solano or other Bay Area Counties. The exception being academic medical centers (eg. UCSF, UC Davis Medical Center, Stanford) where the vaccine distribution is limited to healthcare workers with the greatest exposure to COVID positive patients per CDPH Guidelines.
Given the very limited supply of vaccine currently in the State we do not anticipate that clinical sites will be making the vaccine available to clinical students. If you are fortunate to be offered that opportunity, it is something you will need to consider at that time.
While we have two FDA approved COVID-19 vaccines and the first limited number of vaccines have arrived and been administered in California and locally in Solano County we all need to remain diligent in our efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to our family and friends and community neighbors. It is going to take several months before we have our highest risk populations immunized. Until then, it is up to all of us to Stand Together to Stay Apart.
TUC Leadership is continuing to monitor the vaccine distribution efforts and will update campus and our Healthy TUC Plan as needed to respond to the evolving local, regional, and state status.