The Riverside Convention Center will become the first site of mass vaccination against coronavirus, city officials said on Thursday, January 28.
Up to 500 vaccinations will be available at the clinic, which will operate from 9 am to 4 pm on Saturday, January 30, before continuing on weekdays starting the following week “as long as the city can continue to receive consistent shipments of the state’s vaccine” says a city press release.
“The number of daily vaccinations will increase if there is more vaccine available,” says the announcement.
Registration for appointments will be available at vaccine.riversideca.gov by the end of Thursday, the statement said. Vaccines will be offered only to those with an appointment at all levels of Phase 1A and those in Phase 1B, including people aged 65 and over. Photo identification and work documentation will be required to prove a person’s eligibility.
“(People) who receive the consultations must arrive at the vaccination site near the time of their consultation, not before and definitely not after,” said the city statement. “Each person will be checked by computer and then moved to a large tent, where they will receive the injection, and will be observed for 15 minutes to check for possible adverse reactions.”
The clinic will offer the Modern vaccine, which should be administered in two doses with a minimum interval of 28 days.
“Vaccinations, combined with continued mask use and adherence to physical distance – these are the steps we need to take together as a community to reduce the impact of COVID-19,” said Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson in the statement.
Riverside City Council member Erin Edwards on Wednesday, January 27, tweeted a photo of orange cones placed in the downtown parking lot.
Sunrise over the brand new @Band Aid vaccine location in the Riverside Convention Center parking lot! This Riverside website will be open to the public soon. Stay tuned for information on booking appointments. pic.twitter.com/1Zry4qK3wS
– Erin Edwards (@ ee_edwards12) January 27, 2021
In a telephone interview on Thursday, Edwards said the city will run the vaccine site with Curative, a private company that offers COVID-19 tests in the city and throughout Riverside County.
“The city and the county have been working together since before vaccines were available to come up with a plan and ensure that the vaccine launch is as smooth as possible,” she said. “I am proud of the way the city has been a leader in COVID testing and we are pleased to do the same when it comes to vaccines as more vaccines become available.”
While Riverside County oversees the distribution of the vaccine, the city “has accelerated the process to ensure that we have a vaccine location in the city” and worked with Curative to establish the convention center location, said Capt. Brian Guzzetta, a spokesman. voice of the Riverside Fire Department.
Curative’s COVID-19 tests were examined earlier this month, when the Food and Drug Administration warned of the potential of the tests to give false negative results if not conducted correctly.
Despite the recommendation, the city and county still use Curative’s self-administered oral smear tests, saying they are confident that the tests are being done the right way.
Riverside County has set up vaccine clinics in Lake Elsinore, Perris, Menifee and Indio, among other locations. But so far, a similar site has not been established in the county’s largest city.
Getting vaccinated in the county has been a frustrating exercise in the law of supply and demand – there are far more people qualified for the vaccine than there are vaccines available – and the limits of technology.
On Tuesday, January 26, at the Board of Supervisors meeting, the county’s Director of Public Health, Kim Saruwatari, said that about 800,000 county residents could be vaccinated. But as of Wednesday, January 27, the county had received only 191,575 doses, according to its online vaccine panel.
Since the county started announcing vaccination clinics this month, many residents said they were unable to access the registration site. The county told the elderly and those without Internet access to call 211 for help in making an appointment, but this led to a flood of calls that overwhelmed operators and prevented the unlucky ones from calling.
County officials on Jan. 21 announced a redesigned website to better handle demand. But they warned that the county’s website still depends on a vaccine registration portal that takes users on an arduous path of filling out forms for unavailable consultations.
On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom abruptly announced changes in the way the state is administering scarce vaccines, saying it would have a more centralized role in notifying residents, scheduling appointments and determining eligibility. Although there is a national shortage of vaccines, California also needs to administer more of the doses it has, state officials said.
On Wednesday, the state health agency announced that health insurance giant Blue Shield of California will be the external administrator in charge of increasing coronavirus vaccinations. Another major health care provider, Kaiser Permanente, will also assist in the state’s effort to deliver vaccines quickly and equitably, the agency said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.