As of Monday, San Mateo County is offering a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination clinic for qualified healthcare professionals and vulnerable residents.
The clinic – which uses the Modern vaccine – starts at 1 pm at the San Mateo County Event Center at 1346 Saratoga Drive in San Mateo.
Vaccination will be available to workers and residents qualified under Phase 1A of the state’s vaccine distribution guidelines. This phase includes the following groups: those at risk for COVID-19 through work in health or long-term care centers (including non-clinical staff) and residents of nursing facilities, assisted living facilities and healthcare settings. long-term care for the elderly or vulnerable individuals.
The chairman of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, David Canepa, announced the mass vaccination clinic in a statement on Monday.
“This is the best news I have heard in a long time and it shows that the dark winter days will soon be over,” said Canepa.
People interested in being vaccinated on the drive-thru website must complete an online form to confirm eligibility. Registration and scheduling information will be available once eligibility is confirmed.
The clinic will open from 1 pm to 5 pm on Monday, and from 9 am to 5 pm, from Tuesday to Saturday.
There are approximately 38,000 health professionals and 12,000 long-term care residents in the county. Bill Silverfarb, policy consultant at Canepa, said that approximately 12,000 people have been vaccinated out of the 22,000 vaccine allocation so far. This does not include employees of medical systems like Kaiser Permanente or Sutter Health, who have separate vaccine allocations.
Silverfarb said the clinic should continue as long as vaccine doses are available. The second dose of vaccination will be available in four weeks through a similar clinic.
People in Phase 1A who have health insurance through Kaiser Permanente can obtain the vaccine through their primary care provider at Kaiser.
For more information on the eligibility of the Phase 1A vaccine, people can visit the San Mateo County health page.