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CDPH Updates COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Guidelines

For CEOs, CNOs, COOs, CIOs, CMOs, and staff in government relations, human resources, licensing & certification, infection prevention, quality & patient safety, disaster readiness, employee safety

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On Feb. 4, the California Department of Public Health updated its COVID-19 vaccine allocation guidelines. While this guidance reaffirms that individuals in Phase 1A (health care workers and long-term care residents) and Phase 1B, Tier One (individuals 65 and older and those working in the sectors of education and childcare, emergency services, or food and agriculture) currently are or will be eligible for the vaccines, it clarifies what individuals fall within these categories.  

For example, the guidance specifies that workers in the state’s health care workforce who are not considered eligible for Phase 1A vaccinations include those who manage health plans, billing, and health information (as opposed to administrative workers in clinical or other settings).  

It also clarifies that those in the education and childcare settings include all formal and informal childcare workers, including day care providers and all staff in colleges, universities, junior colleges, community colleges, and other postsecondary education facilities; in pre-K, elementary, middle, and high schools; in technical and trade schools; in educational support services and administration; and any other workers involved in child and/or student care, including school bus drivers and monitors, crosswalk guards, etc. 

Finally, the guidance clarifies that an individual who has already received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine should receive their second dose at the recommended interval even if they do not meet the most-up-to-date eligibility criteria. 

Vaccine providers are encouraged to familiarize themselves with this most recent guidance and to vaccinate in accordance with it.