Disneyland California opened a giant coronavirus vaccination center on Wednesday, about 10 months after the outbreak of the pandemic forced the closure of the world-famous theme park.
The first hundreds of patients lucky enough to get appointments online went to the Anaheim resort parking lot on Wednesday morning, where people over 65 and health workers are being vaccinated in white tents.
“Today, for many people being vaccinated, it really is the happiest place on Earth,” said Orange County supervisor Lisa Bartlett, referring to the famous Disney descriptor.
The county near Los Angeles announced that Disneyland would host its first “super POD” (dispensation point) vaccination site on Monday night, and received 10,000 registrations in the first two hours on Tuesday.
“Easy – easy, nothing much. I didn’t even feel it,” said Gary Dohman, an 81-year-old lung cancer patient, after receiving his injection of Moderna.
“I have been confined to a house for 10 months, I cannot go anywhere. I want to take my second chance and travel a little.”
The slow rollout of vaccines in California has been widely criticized, with one of the lowest inoculation rates per capita in the United States.
State officials announced on Wednesday that previous strict eligibility criteria would be immediately extended to include everyone over 65 – a change that has already begun in Orange County, where Disneyland is located.
“The launch of the state vaccine was a little disappointing,” said supervisor Donald Wagner at a news conference.
Disney, Orange County’s largest employer, and other corporate partners “have come together to make up for the problem,” he said.
The site will soon manage more than 7,000 shots a day, officials said.
During the summer and fall, when Covid’s cases declined in southern California, Disney and other theme park operators were irritated by restrictions that would not allow reopening even under strict security protocols, even when other companies went back to work. .
Subsequently, the entire region returned to receiving “stay-at-home” orders in early December, closing most deals again.
California, initially praised for dealing with the pandemic, has emerged as an epicenter of the virus in recent weeks. The state surpassed 30,000 total Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, with cases more than doubling since early December to 2.75 million.
Supervising colleague Doug Chaffee expressed hope that the vaccination campaign “means that we can bring tourism back, I hope, especially to places like Disneyland,” as well as reopening schools and other businesses.
Orange County plans to inoculate “all residents” by July 4, according to its “Operation Independence,” said supervisor Andrew Do.
170,000 doses have been allocated so far, with a population of more than 3 million.
Mitra Fard, pushing his newly vaccinated 83-year-old mother in a wheelchair from the tents, said there was a “long line” and an overtime delay.
“But for the number of people, the number of cars, they are doing a great job. I am really impressed,” she said.
“We are ready to go and get a big juicy steak.”
amz / caw