Newsom brags about California’s vaccine rollout, but are other states ahead?
California has received more vaccine doses than any other state
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom said his state had administered more doses of the coronavirus vaccine than any other state, even though the majority of doses received had yet to be administered.
On Twitter, Newsom acknowledged that the state needed to do more – but said that it had administered 40% of its doses to health care workers and the state’s most vulnerable populations.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that California was among the states that had administered the highest number doses – at more than 1.07 million. Texas, however, had administered 1.16 million.
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Still, other data paints a slightly more nuanced picture.
California is the most populous state in the U.S. with almost 40 million people, dwarfing second-place Texas, which has about 29 million people. Consequently, the Golden State has received more doses of the vaccine than other states at 3.54 million. Texas, for comparison, received 2.1 million.
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When data is considered only a smaller scale, California’s rollout appears to be progressing slower than many other states.
For example, the CDC says the state has administered 2,716 doses per 100,000 individuals.
New York has administered 3,894 per 100,000 residents, while Florida has administered 3,972 per 100,000 individuals. Texas has administered 4,001 per 100,000 residents and Connecticut has administered 5,213 per 100,000 individuals.
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Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., characterized Newsom’s handling of the vaccine distribution as "inept" during an interview with Fox News over the weekend.
"We are so far behind in dispensing the vaccine, [Newsom] hasn’t been forward-leading," Issa said. "The vaccines are not being distributed nearly fast enough in California, there are freezers full of vaccines that are not being put into people’s arms."
It should be noted, however, that California is currently dealing with one of the most severe virus outbreaks in the U.S. It has more than 2.9 million confirmed cases to date.
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As previously reported by Fox News, at the beginning of the month Newsom said the vaccine rollout had gone "too slowly."
Many states throughout the U.S., however, have experienced similar challenges when administering the vaccine.
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In the U.S. overall, more than 31.1 million doses have been distributed – and 12.2 million administered, according to data from the CDC. Only about 1.6 million people have received the required two doses necessary to maximize immunity.