The goal to vaccinate the masses against COVID-19 still remains largely aspirational in California, but it’s been difficult at times to get the full picture of what’s happening across the state.

I’m going to lay out some of the reasons why

For starters, California has 61 local health departments, all with different operations that are currently tracking vaccine data differently

The state has said that it’s working on a vaccine data tracking system, but so far, without a comprehensive assessment of how many doses have been allocated/received/administered in each county, it’s been difficult to compare progress at a county-by-county level

There is also a lack of clarity into how many COVID-19 vaccine doses have been *shipped* vs. *received*

CDPH has said that providers have reported administering 1.6 million+ doses, but more than 4.2 million have been shipped to local health departments and healthcare systems

That doesn’t necessarily mean that those remaining doses have not been used.

Some local health providers report directly to the state, not the county they’re in, and officials have said there have been delays in tracking that information.

County leaders throughout the state have warned that vaccine supply has remained too low to match goals + long-term projections for allocation have shrunk to a week-by-week basis.

But capacity continues to increase in preparation for an increase in supply, whenever that may be

Right now, based on current vaccine allocation, it’s estimated that it could take until June to vaccinate all residents 65+.

But as has been the case throughout the pandemic, estimates shift. If vaccine supply increases + distribution speeds up, the timeline will likely change.

As @latimes continues to cover California's vaccine rollout, ere are some helpful resources to keep up-to-date with what's happening:

vaccine tracker via @datagraphics: https://www.latimes.com/projects/california-coronavirus-cases-tracking-outbreak/covid-19-vaccines-distribution/

vaccine page with our latest stories: https://www.latimes.com/topic/covid-19-vaccines