You may end up receiving the COVID-19 vaccine from your dentist. In an effort to speed up vaccine rollout, dentists have been approved to administer vaccines in multiple states, including California.

California’s Department of Consumer Affairs approved a public health emergency waiver that will allow dentists to give COVID-19 vaccines to patients 16 and older. Interested dentists will be required to take a CDC training program to learn how to safely administer the vaccine.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said the state is working to administer COVID-19 vaccines “with a sense of urgency that is required of this moment and the urgency that people demand,” according to Fox News.

California, among other states, has had a difficult time distributing the vaccine as quickly as initially hoped. Only around one-third of the 1.3 million vaccinations the state received have been administered thus far, according to the California Department of Public Health.

California is not the only state moving slowly. Healthcare workers across the country are struggling to administer vaccines quickly enough. Twenty states are now exploring alternate routes to administer the COVID-19 vaccines, which could include utilizing students, retirees, dentists, veterinarians, and paramedics.

Dentists have been approved to give the vaccines in multiple states, according to the American Dental Association. Oregon was the first state to have a dentist administer a COVID-19 vaccine in December 2020.

Multiple states and universities have already begun using medical and nursing students to administer COVID-19 vaccines. Public health students have also been recruited to help run vaccination sites.

Read more on the coronavirus vaccine:

• Will the Johnson & Johnson vaccine be as effective as Pfizer and Moderna?
• How long will the COVID-19 vaccines keep you safe from the coronavirus?
• Does the COVID-19 vaccine work against the new coronavirus variant?
• When will the Astrazeneca vaccine come to the U.S.?
• FDA exploring half dose vaccines to speed vaccination efforts
• Here’s what the COVID-19 vaccine is made of
• Can you drink alcohol after getting the coronavirus vaccine?
• Experts warn to be wary of coronavirus vaccine scams
• Should pregnant people get the coronavirus vaccine?
• Here’s why skipping the second dose of the COVID vaccine could be dangerous
• If you have severe allergies, you probably shouldn’t get the coronavirus vaccine right away
• Will the coronavirus vaccine have side effects?

Sources: Fox News, CNN, KGW Portland

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