California is one of the slowest states in the nation when it comes to rolling out coronavirus vaccines, data from the Centers for Disease Control show — even as virus cases surge, overburdened hospitals turn away patients and record numbers of people die.
Travis Whisler of Long Beach, left, an employee with the Orange County Fire Authority, receives his COVID-19 vaccine in Irvine on Jan. 9, 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)South Dakota was more than twice as speedy as California at pushing shots into people’s arms as of Tuesday, Jan. 12. It had vaccinated 5,451 of every 100,000 residents, ranking No. 1 among all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

The Golden State trailed far behind, at No. 44, vaccinating just 1,981 of every 100,000 residents.

While an enormous state like California faces complicated logistics, two other large, heavily populated states are also vaccinating people far more quickly than is California. Both New York and Texas eclipsed California’s pace by some 50 percent (shots in 2,979 of every 100,000 arms in New York and 2,938 of every 100,000 in Texas). Those states ranked No. 18 and 21, respectively.

Even Louisiana and Puerto Rico, not particularly known for efficient infrastructure, are doing better than California.

“Part of the process that we’ve set up here in California — really thoughtful, trying to focus on risk and exposure and equity — has led to some delays in getting vaccine out into our communities,” said Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, on Tuesday, Jan. 12.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said that “We recognize that the current strategy is not going to get us where we need to go as quickly as we all need to go” at a briefing Monday, Jan. 11.