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 California, the most populous state, said it would further widen
vaccine eligibility to all individuals at least 16 years of age
beginning April 15, while Florida, ranking third in U.S. population,
said it would lower its age threshold to 18 and up on April 5.
North Carolina said it was accelerating its timeline for vaccination
eligibility to begin making shots available to all adults on April
7.
The three states join a growing list moving well ahead of the Biden
administration's goal of expanding coronavirus immunizations to U.S.
adults of all ages by May 1.
Georgia officially opened inoculations to all adults on Thursday,
with Texas set to do the same on Monday, followed by Indiana two
days later. Those three states announced their universal expansions
on Tuesday, the same day New York state dropped its eligibility age
from 60 to 50.
In announcing its widening campaign, California, a major flashpoint
of the U.S. pandemic during the COVID-19 surge at the end of last
year, cited nationwide progress in vaccine distributions as supplies
continue to grow.
"With vaccine supply increasing and by expanding eligibility to more
Californians, the light at the end of the tunnel continues to get
brighter," said California Governor Gavin Newsom, who began relaxing
tough restrictions on social and economic life as coronavirus
caseloads waned in recent weeks.
Vaccine eligibility in California is currently restricted to adults
65 and older and individuals of all ages in various high-priority
classifications, including medical personnel, first-responders,
nursing home residents, food and grocery workers, teachers and
people with underlying chronic health conditions.
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 Florida, home to large
concentrations of elderly residents especially
vulnerable to the virus, has already vaccinated
more than 70% of its roughly 4.4 million
seniors, aged 65 and up, Governor Ron DeSantis
said.
He said that tally appeared to account for a
sharp drop in case rates and hospitalizations
among elderly residents in the state, which
lowered its vaccine age threshold to 50 on
Monday.
Alaska was the first state to lower statewide
eligibility to age 16, the youngest age allowed
to be immunized with any of the three vaccines
that have so far received emergency use
authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration.
It also has the highest rate of vaccination in
the United States, with 31.5% of its residents
having received at least one dose, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC).
In the United States as a whole, 26% of the
population has received at least one vaccine
dose, with about 2.4 million shots being given
each day during the past week, according to
tracking data compiled by Reuters.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles;
Additional reporting by Peter Szekely in New
York; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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