California Grocers Association President and CEO Ron Fong was today appointed to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Community Vaccine Advisory Committee which is tasked with providing input into the distribution and allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to have a seat at the table as the vaccine begins being distributed throughout California,” Fong said. “It’s critical the State prioritize frontline grocery workers to receive the vaccine, after healthcare workers. We also want to help coordinate the safe vaccine distribution from grocery store pharmacies to our communities and employees. As a vital component of every community, local grocery pharmacies provide a convenient, safe location to distribute the vaccine.”
The Community Vaccine Advisory Committee, under the direction of Dr. Erica Pan, Acting State Public Health Officer, will build on the work of the Scientific Safety Review Work Group and the Drafting Guidelines Work Group. The Committee will provide input and feedback for the ongoing planning and engagement efforts to ensure equitable vaccine distribution and allocation. In the beginning, vaccine supplies will be limited and will be distributed to those at highest risk.
“While the COVID-19 vaccine is new, we are not starting our planning process from scratch. This is an area of expertise we have strong partnerships in, building on lessons learned from previous vaccination campaigns, including H1N1 and seasonal flu,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom when announcing the committee last month. “We’ve been planning and thinking about this for months, and we are being guided by some of the world’s best experts in this field.”
Today’s announcement was Fong’s second appointment to a statewide pandemic-related committee. Earlier this year, Fong was invited to participate on Gov. Newsom’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery.