California opens federally administered vaccination site at Oakland Coliseum
James Torrez reports from KTVU.
OAKLAND, California – Mass vaccination sites at Oakland Coliseum and Cal State Los Angeles opened on Tuesday, while other locations in California are being forced to close due to a lack of supplies.
The two new openings are part of President Biden’s promise to open 100 mass vaccination posts in his first 100 days in office and are funded by the federal government, meaning they will have a federal supply of vaccines. The goal is to vaccinate 6,000 people a day in these locations.
The Oakland facility will distribute vaccines to people at levels 1a and 1b – meaning health professionals and groups over 65, teachers and farm workers can make appointments there. Eligible persons can make an appointment here.
“I am very excited and a little nervous,” said Linda Bowen, who was in a long line of people who were about to be vaccinated in the Colosseum parking lot on Tuesday. “I have some nieces in the medical field who have already received and some family members of the elderly who have received, so I’m fine. I’m fine.”
This federal supply is in stark contrast to what is happening at the local and municipal level, where vaccination sites at the Moscone Center in San Francisco and the Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles have to temporarily close because their doses have run out.
In San Francisco, mass vaccination is suspended at the Moscone convention center for a week until the supply increases, officials announced on Sunday. They also said that vaccines at the City College of San Francisco will stop and start again on Friday, but only for second dose appointments.
“I am frustrated because we have shown that SF can administer injections as soon as they arrive,” Mayor London Breed said on social media. “We hope for more information in the coming days. We will maintain sufficient doses to guarantee a second injection for people at the scheduled time.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced on Tuesday that the federal government will increase the number of vaccines it sends to states. Governors were informed through a liaison with COVID’s response coordinator, Jeff Zientz.
“We are increasing the supply of macabre vaccines to 13.5 million doses a week, which go to the states,” said Psaki. “It is an increase of 57% in relation to the amount received by the states since the inauguration of the president.”
The locations at Oakland Coliseum and Cal State LA were chosen with an eye to equity, said Governor Gavin Newsom, and places will be reserved for people in neighboring areas. Residents can use “Minha Vez”, a new state tool, to register and make appointments.
Each site will be open from 9 am to 7 pm and will begin with the administration of 4,000 doses on Tuesday, before increasing to 6,000 a day, said Cal OES spokesman Brian Ferguson. Mobile clinics will also start operating.
The state also released details of its $ 15 million contract with insurance company Blue Shield, which was chosen to administer California’s new centralized vaccine delivery system. Blue Shield will be responsible for developing incentive payment criteria for suppliers and algorithms for allocating vaccines and prioritizing consultations.
Its job is to manage the supply chain to meet certain benchmarks, such as ensuring that vaccines are available to 95% of people within a half hour drive in urban areas and an hour drive in rural areas.
It will also be responsible for reaching a monthly percentage of vaccine – to be determined by the state – for people in populations with few resources. The contract provides for 4 million doses to be administered across the state each week until the end of April, although this includes federal vaccines and is subject to delivery.
Blue Shield will not be reimbursed for staff time, but the $ 15 million is expected for direct expenses that the insurer may incur, such as consultants, equipment and lawyers. The full list of reimbursable expenses is still under preparation, according to the contract.
California continues to see lower rates of new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations, although deaths are falling more slowly. The state reported an additional 200 deaths on Monday, bringing the total since the outbreak to more than 47,000 – the largest in the country. The state also reported nearly 6,500 new cases, bringing the total number of registered coronavirus infections to 3.4 million.
Many California cities and counties are calling for more vaccine, saying they have the ability to deliver it to residents. They are struggling to keep doses to large-scale sites and to get the vaccine to the hardest-hit neighborhoods, which are mostly working-class and heavily black and Latino.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city expects to receive 58,000 doses this week and will prioritize people who need a second injection. About 4,600 first doses will be reserved for people in vulnerable communities, he said.
San Francisco plans to proceed with the opening of a third high-volume vaccination site in the Bayview neighborhood, but it will do so with fewer consultations. Authorities said they had delivered at least one dose to almost half of the city’s residents aged 65 and over.
The mass vaccination site at the Moscone center opened less than two weeks ago with high hopes of inoculating up to 10,000 people a day. Its initial supply came from Kaiser Permanente, which was tasked by the governor to administer 85,000 doses in Moscone and Cal Poly Pomona of unused shipments that went to Pharmacy CVS, said Kaiser.
More than 6 million doses have been administered throughout California, with at least 1 million people receiving both doses. The state is receiving about 1 million doses a week, with a significant portion set aside for second doses, Newsom said.
Associated Press reporter Janie Har contributed to this report.