Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that the San Joaquin Valley will get a major boost to its COVID-19 vaccine allocation. That’s due in part to the region’s food and ag workers, who now are also receiving some priority access to the vaccine. Valley counties will now be receiving thousands more doses each week, amounting to an average increase of 58%, thanks to a change in how the state is distributing vaccines. In earlier weeks, each county’s share was calculated based on its relative population of seniors and healthcare workers. For weeks in the Valley, a region that has been chronically underserved by doctors and other medical providers , health leaders and elected officials have been demanding a higher supply from the governor, arguing the Valley was receiving fewer doses per capita than other regions of the state . Beginning this week, however, the allocation also takes into account each county’s essential workers in Phase 1B, which includes food and ag workers. The revised
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