California 'On Track' to Easing Covid Restrictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom Says

California Governor Gavin Newsom says he expects more counties of the state will soon be emerging from the state's purple tier - the highest coronavirus restriction level - to the less restricted red tier.

Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous with its 10 million residents, has recorded more than 1.9 million COVID-19 cases during the pandemic. It is currently in the state's most restrictive category - known as the purple tier - because of widespread transmission.

The tiers are based on test positivity rates and adjusted case rate figures.

For movement on tier status, the state is looking to a re-tooled "equity" strategy of getting more vaccine to communities hit hard by the pandemic, with a short-term goal of having two-million doses administered in those areas.

"Twenty-four of our 58 counties are now out of the least restrictive tiers. With this new equity metric being met likely as soon as Friday, you're going to have many more next week," Gov. Newsom said during a media briefing Wednesday.

Newsom has talked extensively about vaccine equity, but the distribution system wasn't designed that way initially. California began vaccinating people in December but didn't commit 40% of its doses to the most vulnerable people until last week, adding another tier of decision-making to the process for local officials.

The change came after statistics showed that the Californians disproportionately infected and dying from the virus, such as Latinos, weren't getting an equal share of the state's vaccines.

Under the new system, 40% of vaccines are supposed to be reserved for ZIP codes in the bottom quartile of a formula that measures things like income, education level and access to transportation. It does not explicitly take race and ethnicity into account but the ZIP codes mirror many minority neighborhoods.

So far about 9.8% of people who fit the new criteria have received at least one dose, compared to 14.4% of people in the highest quartile, according to state data.

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