SACRAMENTO, Calif. — ABC10 is following the latest coronavirus statistics and vaccine news for the Sacramento region and the state of California.
This blog will be updated throughout the day with the latest COVID-19 news. Click HERE to learn when and where you can sign-up to get the coronavirus vaccine near you.
Sacramento County prepares to vaccinate teachers and other workers
Sacramento County is starting the registering process to allow more people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. County officials said they will open up eligibility as their vaccine supply increases under phase 1B.
Previously, only those who are 65 years and older could receive the vaccine but the county believes they could vaccinate the following workers: educators, childcare workers, emergency personnel, and food and agriculture workers.
Sacramento County Health Officer Olivia Kasirye says they hope teachers could be vaccinated in February. Sacramento State is one place that will be used as a mass vaccination site for educators.
Erin Somers, a member of the Elk Grove Unified School District Parent Coalition, said schools should open even though teachers are not vaccinated.
"I think I could speak for our group that we also believe that that should be a priority," Somers said. "We don't believe it needs to be a requirement."
San Quentin State Prison cited by CAL/OSHA for COVID-19 violations
Cal/OSHA recently fined multiple employers throughout the state for violating COVID-19 precautions. The biggest offender was San Quentin State Prison with nearly $422,000 in fines.
In a report released Thursday, staff at the state prison were allegedly not "provided adequate training or equipment for working with COVID-19 infected individuals, and employees who had been exposed to COVID-19 positive inmates were not provided proper medical services, including testing, contact tracing and referrals to physicians or other licensed health care professionals."
State releases latest COVID-19 statistics
On Thursday, the state of California announced a state total of 3,294,447 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There were also 655 deaths reported bring the total up to 42,466 deaths. The state also reported 3,984,752 vaccine doses had been administered.
State officials explain partnership with Blue Shield for vaccine distribution
During the Community Vaccine Advisory Committee’s Wednesday night meeting, Marta Green, Chief of CalPERS Health Plan Research and Administration, laid out the details of California's "cost-basis contract" with Blue Shield for its statewide vaccine distribution network.
Blue Shield will pass its actual costs to the state and not profit from this arrangement.
"The state will allocate vaccines directly to provides to maximize efficiency and also to have real-time transparency into where vaccines are at all times," Green said.
Currently, the state has authorized health workers, teachers, food and agriculture employees, other first responders, and 65 and older people to be inoculated.
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