After placing more than 200,000 coronavirus vaccines in the arms of San Diegans, the mass immunization site near Petco Park will be closed permanently at the end of Saturday.
A spokesman for UC San Diego Health, which runs the site, informed The San Diego Union-Tribune about the closure on Monday. She added that UCSD expects anyone who is still waiting for a second dose of the vaccine at the site to be vaccinated by the end of the week.
Probably many thousands of people are in that position. The superstation offers the Modern vaccine, which requires two injections to maximize immunity against the coronavirus. More than 120,000 people received the first dose of the vaccine at the site, but only about 85,000 received the second dose.
These figures do not include people who received their first dose on the Petco Park website and went elsewhere for their second injection, or those who will be vaccinated in the next few days.
Anyone who still has a vaccination appointment at the site will receive a message through MyChart, UCSD’s electronic notification system. The healthcare system is asking those who do not yet have a second scheduled appointment to schedule a call to 800-926-8273 or 211 – but only if you have also given your first chance in the city center.
The superstation, located in the rear parking lot of Petco Park, was the first mass immunization site in the county and served as a model for other locations across the state and country. The county, UC San Diego, the city of San Diego and the Fathers came together to launch the super station on January 11th. But with the Padres’ baseball season set to begin in April, the site was inevitable to close.
The substation was opened, closed and reopened in sync with the region’s unstable vaccine supply. This has sometimes generated widespread confusion and frustration among residents of San Diegans, who have been suddenly notified that their appointment has been canceled. And it made UCSD cautious in helping to establish another mass immunization site, although Dr. David Brenner, vice president for health sciences, says the health care system is open to do that – with the San Francisco Convention Center. Diego as a possible future location.
“We are delighted to help the county with this, as we did with Petco,” said Brenner. “But we really need to have a healthier vaccine delivery system in the future. Because otherwise, it would just leave everyone terribly vulnerable to all of these cancellations. “
The distribution of the vaccine in the region has changed considerably since the inauguration of the downtown substation. More than 715,000 San Diegans have received a coronavirus vaccine, and the county now has five other superstores in La Jolla, Chula Vista, La Mesa, San Marcos and Del Mar.
The vaccine previously sent from the county to the Petco Park site will now flow to those sites, as well as to other locations throughout the region – including a new site that will open in Oceanside on Tuesday.
The North Coast Health and Human Services Center on Mission Avenue, one block east of Interstate 5, will be able to administer up to 700 vaccines per day, county officials said. It will replace a clinic that opened on January 24 at the North Coastal Live Well Center on Ocean Ranch Boulevard and has reached a maximum of 300 vaccinations per day.
A team of 13 National Guard doctors and administrators will manage the clinic with the help of the county. The new Oceanside location has scheduled a total of 50 first-dose consultations and several second-dose consultations for Tuesday. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be offered on site.
The facility can also administer Johnson & Johnson’s new single-dose vaccine when it becomes available, said Jennifer Bransford-Koons, director of county vaccine operations.
The site is located at CEP 92058, which was disproportionately affected by the pandemic. There were about 9,619 coronavirus infections per 100,000 residents in the area, compared with about 7,926 per 100,000 residents in the county as a whole.
“This is in the middle of the Latin community that will be able to walk here,” said the mayor of Oceanside, Esther Sanchez.
The location is also within walking distance of Eastside and Crown Heights and a short drive from the San Luis Rey Valley. It is along one of the city’s main public transportation routes.
Residents within the CEP will have priority for appointments, but people from across the region will be accepted, officials said.
“This is a big day for Oceanside and a big day for the county,” said county supervisor Jim Desmond, who attended a press conference at the facility along with Sanchez, San Marcos councilor María Nuñez and others to announce the Opening.
From Tuesday, the venue will be open from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm from Sunday to Thursday. Appointments can be made through MyTurn, the state’s online vaccine scheduling and notification system (myturn.ca.gov), or by calling 211 for older San Diegans residents who do not own a computer.
Whether the new location in Oceanside actually delivers 700 doses per day will depend on the supply, which remains unpredictable. Case in point: the Del Mar Fairgrounds superstation, managed by Scripps Health, will close on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday due to Pfizer’s low vaccine supply. A Scripps spokesman said that anyone whose appointment is canceled will be notified via MyTurn and automatically rescheduled for a later date.
On Monday, the county reported 178 new coronavirus infections, a new hospitalization and no additional deaths from COVID-19.