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More people are becoming eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, but shortages are expected to keep supplies tight in the coming weeks.
Such constraints have dogged the vaccine rollout in California and across the nation since the first shots became available in December, but officials had expressed optimism that the arrival of a third viable offering from Johnson & Johnson would expedite the process.
Although that’s expected, ultimately, to be the case, officials said those shots would remain in short supply in the near term because of production delays.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that “in the immediate term” the state doesn’t anticipate receiving additional doses of that particular vaccine — which health officials have hailed as a potential pandemic game-changer, as it requires only one dose and does not need to be shipped and stored at freezing temperatures.
The next few weeks, he added, will remain “a constrained environment in terms of access to vaccines.”
Such limitations, though always unwelcome, are coming at an inopportune time, as significantly more Californians will soon be able to take their place...