CDPH Forms COVID-19 Vaccine Drafting Guidelines Workgroup

This week, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced the COVID-19 Vaccine Drafting Guidelines Workgroup to advise the state on COVID-19 vaccine prioritization and allocation. Building on the state’s COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, the Drafting Guidelines Workgroup is comprised of immunization, geriatrics, ethics, epidemiology, health equity, and pharmacy practice experts. The group is tasked with developing California-specific guidance for prioritization and allocation of a COVID-19 vaccine which will be based on several national frameworks from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Drafting Guidelines Workgroup is a component of the state’s initial COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan that was submitted to the CDC earlier this month. Members of the workgroup include:

• Co-Chair Dr. Oliver Brooks, CMO, Watts Health Care Corporation
• Co-Chair Dr. Robert Schechter, Chief, CDPH Immunization Branch
• Dr. Ngoc-Phuong Luu, Health Officer, Yuba and Sutter Counties
• Melissa Thun, Public Health Nurse Manager, San Diego County
• Ann Walker, Immunization Program Coordinator, Kern County Department of Public Health
• Dr. Claire Jarashow, Director, Vaccine Preventable Disease Control and Chief, Epidemiology and Data, Acute Communicable Disease, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
• Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine and Founding Director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at UC Davis Health
• Dr. Louise Aronson, Director, Age Self Care Program, UCSF and Clinical Lead, Senior Hub, San Francisco Department of Public Health COVID-19 Response
• Dr. Randy Bergen, Immunization Lead, Kaiser Permanente Northern California
• Dr. Arleen Brown, Professor of Medicine, UCLA and Chief of Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
• Susan Ducore, Immunization Coordinator, California Indian Health Service
• Dr. Katherine Flores, UCSF Fresno Latino Center for Medical Education and Research
• Dr. Jeff Goad, Department of Pharmacy Practice Chair, Chapman University
• Dr. Bernard Lo, Director, UCSF Program in Medical Ethics and Emeritus and President, The Greenwall Foundation, New York
• Dr. Jeff Silvers, Immunization Lead, Sutter Health
• Dr. Mike Witte, CMO, California Primary Care Association

A Community Advisory Vaccine Committee will additionally provide input and feedback to the planning efforts and solve barriers of equitable vaccine implementation and decision-making.

A full press announcement from CDPH is available here.